Unexpected Awakening
by Kyralih
Summary: Far in the future of Crystal Tokyo, during the reign of Queen Serenity the Fifth, an unexpected awakening occurs that could spell impending doom for the cosmos...
1. Chapter 1

Wind danced across the street acting as the master of its cherry-blossom marionettes, which swirled and flowed elegantly from the tree to the verdant green grass below, skittering across the paved sidewalks and taking flight yet again, pressed upward at the side of the other building.

Someone behind her cleared their throat.

The wind was almost like a teacher, then – it knew what it wanted the blossoms to do, and it directed them towards that end. All they needed to do was go with its flow and they would be successful; but where was their spirit? Were they content to mindlessly obey?

"Ahem."

Maybe she was looking too far into it; they weren't exactly sentient. …but they were a really great simile – metaphor? Yeah, metaphor – for her current situation. Hers and her guardians', anyway. If she behaved the way her teachers and tutors and trainers wanted her to, she, too, could be successful, but wouldn't that just make her a cookie-cutter person? Smiling when it was expected, saying what they needed–

"Princess," her instructor's feminine voice growled and Bunny jumped at the nearness of the sound.

Quickly, the young girl with silver hair turned, but the length of her pigtails and the quickness of the turn knocked the paper and pencils off the desk of the person behind her. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, whipping back around and attempting to reach over the desk bar to grab the abused articles. Unable to get anywhere near, she hopped up to kneel on the seat to get a better angle. Stretching as much as she could only made it so the very tip of her middle finger glanced the nearest pencil.

"Princess!" the instructor gasped, mortified, and Bunny winced, remembering only now that she was wearing her summer skirt today. Gritting her teeth she prepared to continue as if she still hadn't realized, but a friendly squeeze of her outstretched hand opened her eyes to see a familiar face wink up at her from a crouched position on the window-side of her seat. Carestia, smiling brightly, gathered the spilled materials and nodded her head towards the teacher, an indication that she had the mess and that Bunny should get back to dealing with the teacher.

Setting her mouth into a forced smile, Bunny turned back around in her seat and looked up at the stern woman, "Yes?"

:

"It's alright, Bunny!" Carestia said in soothing tones, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad," Biera snorted, turning her purple-haired head away to laugh into Tunis. The two snickered and Bunny pouted.

The road back to the Crystal Palace was alive with the smells of late spring, small shops opening with goods from Earth and from the life-bearing planets of allied systems, their populace meshing almost indiscriminately with the humans they visited, but for small features – cat ears, antlers, and wolf-tails, for example. The street was set up for the Solstice festival, and already street performers were practicing their arts: from fire juggling, street magic and acrobatics to shape-shifting, feats of strength and mermaid-dances in large tanks, her populace was enjoying themselves already. This cheered Bunny up marginally, until she saw two cheeky boys from her class in amongst the crowd, standing facing her with idiotic expressions, acting like they were pulling up their imaginary skirts. She blushed beet-red.

"Jerks!" Zita screamed and dashed into the crowd after them, her long black hair disappearing quickly in the throng of astonished onlookers.

"Zita," Carestia sighed, her fingers at her temples, "Biera, go bring her back; the Queen wouldn't be happy if another complaint was raised against her."

"Sure thing, [i]boss[/i]," Biera quipped and dashed off, to the delight and further confusion of the crowd; it wasn't every day (well, maybe not for this particular group, Bunny mentally amended) that two senshi broke off of the Princess's detail to chase middle-school boys. For her it [i]_was[/i]_ nearly every day. The other kids in her class just didn't like her that much – she didn't pay as much attention to lessons and they thought it was because she had a defined future career and so didn't need to worry, like she was above them all, while really the teacher was just super boring and she was in various lessons practically all hours of the day and had other things on her mind.

Like her legacy. What would be her mark on the Solar System and the Crystal Millennium?

As they approached the crystalline castle, doors appeared to admit them, sensing the Silver Millennium blood in her veins and the sailor crystals in Carestia and Tunis's hearts. The long hallway appeared before them, flanked on all sides with hued marble statues of the senshi who had lived their lives for the protection of peace on Earth. First and foremost, in this important entrance hall, were the original eight guardians: Sailors Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter on the left, Sailors Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and Saturn on the right, Pluto's likeness engraved here even though she lived on at the Gates of Time. Beyond them were the Sailor Quartet, Ceres and Juno on the left, Vesta and Pallas on the right; this covered nearly the first 2000 years of the Crystal Millennium, but the quartet-style of protection continued on after that. Every Queen awakened four senshi from the Asteroid Belt to serve as her daughter's protectors; it had to be that way, for once a Senshi died and her crystal returned to the Galaxy Cauldron, it took thousands of years for the crystal to regrow and return to its planet, where it would then rest for nearly a millennia as it retuned itself to its guardian star before selecting a shell – a fetus – to serve as the future Sailor Senshi of the planet.

As of yet, the Sailor Quartet's seeds had not returned to their asteroids, so it took more than 2000 years for the regrowth stage in the Cauldron. Their crystals would be the first to return, as the planetary Sailor Crystals would never be reborn again.

At the far end of the hall stood her ancestors, the first family of the Crystal Millennium: Neo-Queen Serenity the first, King Endymion, and Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity. She smiled faintly as they turned left towards the elevator that would take them to her quarters; everyone said she bore remarkable resemblance to Neo-Queen Serenity, and she enjoyed the comparison. Neo-Queen Serenity was beautiful, strong, and resilient, and had always been her role-model. She had saved the world multiple times, and had even saved the entire Galaxy once, and it was her crystal that created this Kingdom and brought peace to Earth, unifying the planet. Her crystal allowed her direct female descendants to control it, for better or worse, and on the summer solstice of the Princess's fourteenth year, it was used to awaken the inner appearance of the Princess and declare them as next Queen.

She wasn't too nervous about tomorrow's ceremony itself; the 'awakening' part would encase her in light and reveal her ruling regalia – the dress that she would wear as Princess in official ceremonies from that point forward and as Queen when she took the throne, along with her unique crown. From the solstice on she would be able to transform into her Princess regalia whenever she wished; and in that form she could actually control the crystal to grant miracles. Her mother, Queen Serenity the Fifth, told her that it didn't hurt at all – the crystal's energy felt more like a warm embrace than anything. No, she wasn't nervous about tomorrow's ceremony – she was nervous about her acceptance in the court afterwards. Would her mother's advisors accept her, clumsy and stray-minded as she was?

They reached her chambers and she only had a few minutes to change from her school uniform to an appropriate dress for further etiquette lessons. As she stood tall for Carestia to lace up the back of her gown, all she could think about was how handy that transformation thing was going to be.

:

It was time. After a day of festivities, performances and shows, it was finally time to be recognized by the Legendary Silver Crystal as its next bearer. She knelt on the second star of the dais, her four guardians kneeling on either side of her, down another stair. Her mother's guardians stood watch over the gathered crowd for any sign of discontent, and her mother, the beautiful ruby-haired Queen Serenity the Fifth, stood at the top of the dais, her arms outstretched, palms up, with the Silver Crystal floating and shining inches off of her skin. In her melodious voice she told the story of the Ginzuishou, starting in the Silver Millennium, its use to send the heartbreak of the past into the future for a second chance, its awakening within a young, fourteen year old girl, Usagi, who was Princess Serenity in new form. She told of its use in the many defeats of evil, controlled by Sailor Moon and her pure heart to vanquish the Negaverse, the Black Moon Clan, Pharaoh 90, the Dead Moon Circus, and finally Galaxia. She told of how it was used to bring peace to Earth, and how it created the fair Crystal Tokyo through the love and hope of Usagi, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity, and how she took the mantle of Neo-Queen Serenity to bring the peaceful era of the Silver Millennium into her time.

She told of the peaceful reign of the Queen, the birth of her daughter, the accomplishments made during her lifetime. She then told of the crystal's strengthening: when it was time for them to pass on to the Galaxy Cauldron, the planetary senshi of the Solar system and King Endymion pledged their Crystals to further the peace and tranquility of the era and to reinforce the goodness inherent in the Silver Crystal. Their own sailor crystals, the star seeds of the eight planets and the primary dwarf planet, rose from their bodies and, in a rainbow of colors, fused into the Silver Crystal, creating the Rainbow Silver Crystal of today. Then, as one, the heroes of Earth passed on: Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto; leaving the planet in the capable hands of Queen Lady Serenity, who, at her death, did the same.

She finished with the triumphs of each of her remaining ancestors, the furthered communication and alliances made by Queen Lady Serenity, the technological leaps and culture sharing by Queen Serenity the Third, the many accomplishments of Queen Serenity the Fourth; she stopped there, not mentioning her own vast achievements. Instead, "Today, I, Queen Serenity the Fifth, present to the Legendary Silver Crystal my daughter, Princess Bunny Serenity, that it might recognize her as the Future Queen of Earth."

This was her cue. She stood and held out her hands and the crystal floated to just above her grasp. Its light intensified, flowing over her in a wave of reassuring warmth. She felt feelings she herself had yet to experience – intense love, deep longing, hurt, pain, reassurance, the strength of deathless friendship, joy, and, finally, an abiding hope that seemed to overcome her. Tears rolled down her cheeks; each feeling was accompanied by memories, reminiscences that were not hers, and yet were so familiar that they had to be.

Love – she remembered his face, his deep blue eyes and dark black hair, his smile that brought butterflies to her stomach, his touch that reassured her, calmed her, and gave her strength, his kiss that made the world fall away; he had many appearances, one as a Prince, one as a tuxedoed hero, one as tall man in familiar lavender attire, and one as a normal citizen, yet the love towards him never varied.

Deep longing – she remembered missing him, needing him, she was on the Moon, she knew, looking at a screen with his face; then on Earth, crying into a pillow in her bedroom; in the timestream, staring off at the dark beyond, and finally, staring at an empty mailbox.

Hurt – his death, her suicide; his being captured, her feeling like her soul had been ripped from her; she remembered many people, senshi that Bunny recognized from statues in the hall, being stolen from her, watching them die before her own eyes and being unable to do anything; then having to fight them to save the universe;

Pain – torture, lighting, bleeding, tearing. Her whole body bruised and battered.

Reassurance – a friendly hand on her shoulder, hugs from those familiar strangers, support from that man, a black cat, everyone telling her that they believed in her, that they lived for her, she was their hope.

Deathless friendship – Long golden hair, blue eyes, forever smiling even through tears: Minako. Short blonde hair, hard blue eyes that softened at seeing her, a smile that sung of lessened loneliness: Haruka; holding her hand, medium-length aquamarine hair, steady green eyes and a delicate smile: Michiru. Short blue hair, smiling and reaching out for her, blue eyes shining with unshed tears: Ami. Short pin-straight black hair and strong, yet timid silver-purple eyes: Hotaru. Long brown hair, tied up in a ponytail, green eyes and a true smile: Makoto. Long purple-black hair with matching eyes, a smile struggling through a cascade of tears: Rei. Finally, shorter than the rest and yet just as tall, a girl with pale skin, soft pink hair and bright red eyes: Chibi-Usa.

Joy – Reuniting with the prince, reuniting with four of her friends after a terrible battle, saving a young girl from her death; Awakening in a light and shining place after a terrible burden was lifted from her shoulders as her friends surrounded her.

Abiding Hope – Knowing that universe would be safe so long as there were senshi to protect it.

When the light faded, Bunny opened her eyes and stared up at her mother, wondering why she had lied. This transformation wasn't painless! She knew those faces; they belonged to the planetary senshi, to her fore-father, King Endymion! How could she have said that this was painless, when she saw their lives, felt their love, only to know now that they were dead? What cruel game was this? Did the Rainbow Silver Crystal carry within it the soul of Neo-Queen Serenity that it might share her life, her love and burdens, with all of her descendants that they might remember for the rest of their lives where they came from?

But the look on her mother's face was not one of shared pain – the regal woman looked confused and awe-struck, taking steps backward. Had something gone wrong? Why was her mother backing away? She turned to Carestia, only to find her kneeling towards her, her hand crossing her heart. Tunis was the same way; she turned around to face the crowd only to find a sea of bowed heads. She was confused – they don't need to bow or kneel to her! She reached out as if to stop them, only to have a long staff appear in her outstretched hand; it was taller than she, made seemingly out of glass. At the top was a pink-tinted orb, lined with pearls at the bottom that sprouted wings, crowned with another orb that encased a silver six-pointed star. What was this? Her hands – both of them – wore pearl rings on every finger.

She looked down at herself and saw the fuku of a senshi, like none she had seen before. Glass high heels with more pearls and feathers; a short white dress, rather than a leotard and skirt like her guardian senshi wore, and where her guardian's fuku's skirt came in at a 'v', her fuku was knighted with a circle surrounding a golden six-pointed star, trailing two long white ribbons, pearled and winged and identical to the brooch in the center of her chest. Her collar was white with three golden stripes, her shoulder guards were golden with more pearls and feathers; she felt a choker, a beaded tiara, clips in her hair, but what made her pause was the decoration on her skirt.

Under the winged and circled golden star was the front fold of her skirt, decorated with the colors of a rainbow, each color representative of one original senshi. Clockwise, there was the icy blue of Mercury, the royal blue of Uranus, the teal of Neptune, green of Jupiter, yellow of Venus, red of Mars, pink of Earth, purple of Saturn, and garnet of Pluto. This transformation – the Rainbow Silver Crystal? She looked around hurriedly, but the crystal had disappeared within her, like it had within Usagi… within herself, in another life.

Arms embraced her from behind, folding the long cape of her fuku into her body as familiar hands held her. "It's alright, Bunny," her mother said, then stepped around to stand before her. In her mother's eyes she saw herself – the white collar with golden star, the tiara with a golden star, the pearls and feathers in her silver hair, the pearl decoration surrounded by gold that fronted her playful heart-shaped buns… and her silver eyes, streaming with tears. Her mother's hands cupped her face as she leaned in to kiss her cheek, "You're alright."


	2. Chapter 2

The world was silent around her mother's soft words; whenever she glanced to either side of her concerned face she could see the crowd staring at her now from their kneeling positions, just so many eyes shining in the dark of twilight, making her anxious and slightly afraid. Her mother would call softly and she would look back at those soft comforting eyes, but she couldn't help looking back into the crowd of strange yet familiar faces. She felt surrounded, suffocated; under all gazes she felt pinned in place like a butterfly on display. What did they want? What could they possibly want from her? She was Bunny! She was only fourteen! She was just crowned their Princess, accepted as their future Queen, and while she knew she should be used to the attention of audiences, now she felt trapped and alone – why were they staring so intently? Panic inched its way into her chest; under their constant stare she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Bunny," her mother called softly again, but she couldn't look away. There were so many people – too many people! Humans and Mauans, Luparians and Coronids, Mermadians and Staggarosians, all staring at her, waiting for her to do something. What? What did they want her to do? What did they expect of her? She was trembling, shaking like a leaf, breathing as quickly as she could and yet feeling like she was suffocating all the same. She wanted to leave; she had to get away! Far away from those eyes, those round and shining lights bearing down on her!

Energy coalesced all around her. In a sudden burst she saw stray feathers fly forward as she felt extra appendages stretch out behind her. Wings. Their eyes grew, staring at her openly from kneeling positions on the ground, not even pretending to bow anymore. Hungrily they stared at her and she felt herself shaking even more, breathing even faster, her heart hammering in her chest. She had never fought anything before! They would overpower her in seconds! She had to get away! She heard her mother saying something, but the woman's voice was nothing but a low hum, nothing that could tear her attention away from the terrifying mob massing before her. She had to get away! _She had to get away! _ Her wings started pumping behind her, aiding her in her escape. Her mother's voice was firmer, her cool hands on Bunny's face trying to catch her attention or keep her in place; she reached up with one hand to push her mother's cool hands away, and found that she had to strength to do so easily.

"Bunny, no!"

Disengaged, blood roaring in her ears and her eyes focused on nothing but the terrifying crowd and the unquenchable thirst in their eyes, she clenched her strange staff and bent her knees to jump, to gain some air and fly far away from here. She would get away – _she wasn't going to die here_! She started her spring, pushing upwards and away, but was stopped. Strong arms held her in place, catching her at the waist as she began to fly away and holding her at arms' length. Their eyes were still on her, but so too now were another set, these a familiar green belonging to the pair of arms that held her in place.

"Bunny!"

"_DADDY!"_ she cried, dropping her staff as her wings propelled her towards him; she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes shut, closing out the crowd as she used to close out her childhood nightmares, and he caught her and held her tight, just as he used to, despite her age and size. With her eyes still squeezed shut, her whole body shaking as if incredibly cold and his cloak growing soggy as it soaked up her tears, she felt him turn and walk away quickly.

As the blood pounding in her ears began to lessen, she started to understand the voices around her. Farther away, speaking calmly back at the ceremony, Sailor Ennomos, leader of her mother's senshi, was addressing the murmuring crowd. A cool hand touched her arm softly – immediately she knew her mother walked with them, but only a young man spoke amongst them. The voice was familiar, belonging to her Godfather. She wondered at him being outside of the gardens of Elysion, but his presence was like cool water on her heated mind. Soon enough, she heard several pairs of soft footsteps running to catch up with them.

"… the stress of awakening," she heard Helios saying, but stopped paying attention. She didn't want to know; she just wanted to stay here, with her father, until the nightmare was over. She hugged him tighter; he squeezed her comfortingly in return.

:

They all sat on her bed with her, her mother on her right, her father on her left, surrounding her with support as Helios, sitting on one of the fluffy pink overstuffed footstools and looking very out of place away from the greenery of his gardens, told them what he knew about what had happened, and what he remembered about whom she could be. That Bunny was a reincarnated form of Neo-Queen Serenity was now almost certain. The memories and feelings she described as the Rainbow Silver Moon Crystal blessed her and its disappearance inside of her had never happened before, and her transformation through the use of the crystal made Helios believe that it was not just the crystal reaching out to remind her of where she came from, but unlocking who she was, or rather, who she had been.

"Your mind is still your own," he explained calmly, smiling comfortingly, "You are still Bunny, your memories of this life belong to you. These other memories belong to your past life; don't shut them out, Bunny, but remember who you are. Use your past life to give you strength, as Sailor Moon used her past as Princess Serenity to give her greater control over the crystal. Her wisdom can be yours if you choose it to be, but it is your choice."

"Helios?" she asked quietly, "What was I? Who was I? If I really am Neo-Queen Serenity incarnated, wouldn't I have appeared as Eternal Sailor Moon instead of an entirely different senshi?" In her mind she thought she might know the answer, but hearing what Helios had to say would make her feel better about it.

"As to who you are, I believe I might have that answer, courtesy of senshi that lived nearly 3000 years ago, but first… I believe you did not awaken as Eternal Sailor Moon because your crystal is inherently different from hers, augmented through the blessings of the nine planets. There is not just one Sailor Crystal within yours, but ten. On that note," he broke his friendly gaze from her and instead trained it on her parents, "We should discuss her training, as I'm not entirely sure our current senshi tuitions would serve to suit her."

Her parents nodded, but Bunny wasn't quite sure what he meant; their training schedule was arduous and tricky, if a little dangerous at times. Was that the reason? Were they going to try to come up with something less dangerous for her because she was the princess? She was about to object when Helios continued:

"But who you are..." Helios looked at her thoughtfully, as if the transformation were still in place. It had faded away when she calmed down and finally stopped crying – she had been so worked up that her physician suggested muscle relaxant, but her parents refused. Now, snuggled between the two of them, she wore the princess dress that she had been so looking forward to. It was in an old style, a simple cut that was both flowing and light, but its simplicity in form was balanced by its incredible material. Silver like her hair when she wasn't moving, framed with light strands of gold, when she moved it shimmering in nearly every color of the rainbow. She adored it, and it made her feel at home in her own skin, something she craved after the disaster earlier.

"Years and years ago, during the reign of Neo-Queen Serenity, a disaster of epic proportions struck as a result of unforeseen dangers in the past. Fearing for the lives of her friends in the twentieth century, Sailor Chibi Moon and her senshi, the Sailor Quartet, traversed the time corridors to aid their fellow senshi in what they would soon discover was the fight against Chaos incarnate: Sailor Galaxia. Fearing it was too late, they nevertheless were able to join Sailor Moon in her fight at the Galaxy Cauldron."

_Darkness, confusion, heartache; pain and hurt, throwing attack after attack at her friends and watching them die and reform, controlled by the Safir crystal and under orders of Galaxia. _Bunny shuddered; her mother was quick to give her hand a squeeze.

"After the battle ended, the future senshi were returned to their home in the future, which had returned to its normal, peaceful state, but not long after I was visited by the Sailor Quartet. Sailor Ceres told me of a mysterious senshi they met at the Cauldron who called herself Sailor Cosmos. When Sailor Ceres asked if she was the true form of Sailor Moon, she denied the claim in such a way that it made Ceres doubtful. Through her description of that senshi, I believe she is _you_, Bunny. Through the blessings of the planetary senshi and the power of their crystals, you have transformed to become Sailor Cosmos."

:

Not long after her parents and godfather left, as she lay tucked under the covers with the lights out, Carestia, Tunis, Zita and Biera snuck into her room through a side door and surrounded her on her king-size bed. She struggled to sit up amongst the hugs, finally laughing for the first time that night as she pushed Carestia away for the fourth time. "I'm okay! I promise!" she assured, though the teal-haired senshi remained as worried as ever. Even Biera looked worried, if slightly curious.

"You looked pretty terrible back there; are you sure you don't want some warm milk or something?" Tunis offered, her brown eyes skeptical.

Bunny shook her head, "No, thanks."

"You sure? You were shaking like a leaf."

"No, I'm fine."

"And hyperventilating."

"No thanks."

"And crying like there was no tomorrow and you just realized you wasted your last day on homework."

"Tunis!" Bunny laughed, the others joining in short order; however, hearing her description back there made her a little uneasy – did she really look that out of it? "Was I really that bad?" she asked quietly.

"I'm gonna get you that milk," the blonde with the pixie-cut hairstyle announced, and Tunis was off, walking away confidently in the dark.

Zita answered in her low voice, "You were – the way you were shaking and crying and panicking made us think that there were enemies. I got up right away, but there was nothing out there; but the way you weren't responding to your mother…"

"Were you in a memory?" Biera asked suddenly, "One of Sailor Moon's memories from a past battle?"

"I…" she started, but was more than a little ashamed to have to admit what had really happened. A glass of warm milk was thrust into her hand and she looked up at Tunis thankfully, and took a sip. "No," she said at last, "It wasn't as cool as that. I panicked and my mind started playing tricks on me."

"Helios said that something like that had happened," Carestia said helpfully, placing a hand on Bunny's shoulder. "As soon as you transformed, the King disappeared into the Palace and came back out with Helios a short time later. When your dad went to get you, Helios was standing beside me so I heard him talking about it when he and your parents went back inside. When we caught back up with you he said something about undue stress."

Biera smirked, "He said that when Usagi awoke as Princess Serenity she passed out, so you have that over her, right?"

The thought was strange – competing against her past self? How did that work, exactly?

"Do you really remember everything from her life?" Biera continued eagerly. This was a switch from Biera's usual slightly-mocking attitude she had towards Bunny in the past. Part of her didn't want to say anything for that, but she had known Biera since they were little, and she knew how much she looked up to the Planetary senshi, so she couldn't entertain the idea of keeping information from her for long.

"Not exactly everything," Bunny offered, "More like bits and pieces – important events, like meeting Sailor Pluto for the first time, and then random stuff, like hanging out and reading comics in a temple with Rei and Minako and Makoto and Ami."

"Who?" Tunis asked curiously.

"Those were their names – the Planetary Guardian senshi names. Rei was Mars, Minako Venus, Makoto Jupiter and Ami was Mercury. Looking into the memories is like trying to remember stuff from when we were really little, like five years old. You don't remember everything… just random stuff," she finished rather lamely.

"Rei, Minako, Makoto, Ami…" Biera repeated, thinking, "What about the other girls? What were their names?"

With each name came a face as a feeling of peace, happiness, and love swept through her, as if the nostalgia really was her own, "There was Haruka and Michiru, Sailors Uranus and Neptune, and—"

"Were they really in love?" Biera interrupted curiously, swiping deep blue hair out of her face.

She couldn't help but smile, "Yes! Very much – they would've died for each other…" she trailed off.

"What about Saturn and Pluto?" Tunis prompted.

"Saturn's name was Hotaru, and Pluto was Setsuna, but Setsuna wasn't around all that often. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were best friends –"

"Chibi-Usa?" Biera repeated.

Bunny laughed, covering her mouth, and took up a mock stern voice, "'Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity.' We called her 'Chibi-Usa' because she refused to go by any name other than Usagi and there was already one Usagi! She hated the name at first, but after Mamoru called her by it she seemed fine with the nickname."

Carestia caught it, and by the look in Zita's eyes, she had too; she had used 'we', as if she had been there personally. She gripped the comforter, her mind threatening to run away with her again. She was Bunny, not Usagi. Usagi is part of her, but not all of her; she wasn't going to disappear. She was Bunny.

"Mamoru was King Endymion, wasn't he?" Tunis asked slowly, her words treading softly, guessing the connection and knowing of its potential as an agent of hysteria. Their love – _her love?_ – was an epic that was retold even in their time. She nodded in affirmation, steeling herself against any memories that might sneak their way through to make her cry again. Not that she thought she _could_ cry anymore. Even still, despite her best efforts, a hole was becoming apparent within her chest when his deep blue eyes were recalled.

"Hey!" Carestia called suddenly, "Remember that time a few years ago when Biera fell off the elephant at the zoo?"

"What? Why do you have to bring that up all of a sudden?" Biera demanded heatedly.

"Yeah!" Tunis exclaimed, clearly on Carestia's side, "She was standing on its back and crying 'Look at me! Look at me! I'm Sailor Vesta!'"

"And the elephant keeper was jumping around yelling 'Little girl! Little girl! Stop that! Sit down!'" Carestia mimicked enthusiastically.

Zita stood as if to act out the scene, "But Biera stood on one foot, 'No! I am Sailor Vesta, the beast trainer! This elephant will – Aaaah!'" Zita fell to the ground in a heap.

They all laughed, Bunny remembering clearly. "If Ennomos hadn't jumped at just the right second, you would've landed in—

"ELEPHANT POO!" the four girls said as one, laughing hysterically as Biera crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them. Laughing felt amazing to Bunny, draining away her stress and confusion and doubt, leaving her feeling more like herself.

When their laughter started to die down, Biera, suddenly producing a fluffy pillow, turned on Tunis, "I can't help that my childhood imagination was so much cooler than yours! What about you, Tunis, and your fascination with that magician?" she threw the pillow with such force that it knocked the blonde backwards off the bed with a cry of dismay.

Tunis reappeared in seconds, "He was cute!" she defended, throwing the pillow back across the bed, but while she had aimed for her blue-haired taunter, she hit Carestia by mistake, knocking her over in surprise.

"And more than three times older than you were!" Biera shot back with a smile, sticking her tongue out saucily, "I guess we're similar as I'm three times better at aiming than you are!"

Carestia used the pillow to knock Biera over the head just before Tunis grabbed another pillow and hit her dead-on; a pillow fight of elephantine proportions ensued. By the end of the night, all five girls were sleeping together on the bed, feathers coating the floor and sticking in their hair, each smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

Apparently the meetings last night has lasted longer than Bunny had thought, for when she and the girls arrived in her parents' parlor, both looked exhausted. Heavy dark circles colored their faces and her mother's blue eyes were shot through with red, but Helios was nowhere to be seen. They must have reached some sort of decision early this morning, she decided, pausing hesitantly on the other side of the coffee table. Her father stood, his blonde hair out of place, and opened his arms to receive a hug. Bunny walked quickly around the low-lying table and complied, wondering as she was enfolded in his soft embrace just who was hugging whom. Her father seemed in need of support; she stayed put with her arms around him until he sighed and let her go.

"Bunny," he said, his voice tired, "You have to go into training for your newly acquired powers."

Was he afraid for her? Should _she_ be afraid for herself? She glanced towards Tunis, Carestia, Zita and Biera, standing at attention in the doorway. She had sat in on a few of their training sessions – they didn't seem so bad. They always ended up panting and exhausted, but they always had fun; she wasn't in as great a shape as they were, but she wasn't _that_ bad. And they'd probably lay off the fire courses and such at first… right?

"No, Bunny," her mother interrupted, her voice raw and rough. Bunny's eyes shot back to give her mother a closer look – she looked so incredibly worn out, almost deflated, sitting on the couch without her usual poise, and yet she still knew, as she usually did, what Bunny was thinking despite her tired countenance. She admired her mother for many reasons, but her strength was almost chief among them. "You won't be training with Carestia and the others."

"Oh," she answered, dropping her gaze. During their practices she had always wondered what it would be like to go through sessions with them, to bounce around the field like an acrobat, protecting their backs as they guarded hers; but maybe there was still hope. She looked back at her parents, eyes turning from mother to father and back again, "When I get stronger, could I join them? I'll work really hard –"

"It's not like that, Bunny," her father said with a sad smile, effectively silencing her.

"But, then why can't I train with them?" It was starting to sound unfair, this training they had rigged up for her.

Her parents looked at each other for a long moment, something passing between them in their secret mom-and-dad language, a means of communicating that Carestia thought was entirely romantic, while she had always thought was a great way of keeping her out of the loop. Watching them now, though, gave her a feeling of familiarity and the smallest sensation of loss; she wondered for a moment, but her mother answered her and she dropped that train of thought altogether. "You're too strong."

"Too strong? What do you mean?" she asked instantly, burying the inkling of fear that the point-blank statement brought about. "I just transformed yesterday –"

"Through a crystal that contains the powers of eleven planetary sailor crystals while simultaneously awakening within yourself the knowledge and experience necessary to use them," her mother finished with a half-smile, "I'm afraid we discussed it in great detail."

Eleven sailor crystals… she hadn't really considered… but wouldn't that give her enough power to destroy something? What if she couldn't control it? If the Silver Moon Crystal could destroy the Earth and Sun easily, then what could the Rainbow Silver Moon Crystal do? How could so much power be entrusted to one person? Her breathing quickened as she thought of what that could mean. She had seen a dead planet before – what was that in? History? Court matters? Would that happen to Earth if she—

Her hands were clasped by cool, confident fingers, and her eyes followed those arms to her mother, kneeling on the floor in front of her. Calmly, smoothly though her voice was rough with exertion, her mother said, "Remember what I told you when you were little? The crystal follows the heart of the user. You have a good heart, Bunny; nothing bad will happen."

Her mother knew – she _always _knew. She dropped to her knees, too, and hugged her, still afraid of what all this meant. She felt the tears squeezing out between her closed eyes, but that seemed to be her natural reaction lately. "You're alright," her mother whispered, one hand circling around her back, the other pressing comfortingly on the back of her head between her heart-shaped buns. She sat like this for a good while, practically in her mother's lap, crying silent tears of uncertainty until her tears wore themselves out.

She pulled away, sitting back on her feet as she wiped at her cheeks with her palms. "If I'm not training with Carestia, Zita, Biera and Tunis, who am I training with?"

"Don't worry, Baby-Bunny," a pleasant, familiar voice said from the doorway, using a nick-name as old as she was. Bunny looked over her shoulder at the two women standing in the secondary entrance, posing dramatically in their own styles. She couldn't help but smile. "You won't be alone; Aemilia and I are taking care of you."

"And what are you four doing? Who said you could lounge?" Aemilia exclaimed, planting her gloved hands on her hips as she glared towards the main door. Bunny whipped her head around to see her guardians hastily jumping their feet, Zita hauling Tunis up as the blonde looked around with some confusion, apparently having fallen asleep.

"Sorry Sailor Aemilia, ma'am!" Carestia breathed quickly, saluting hastily to show respect. The salute of the senshi was really neat, Bunny thought, as she had never had to do it before. Their right hand crossed their chest with palm facing outward, parallel with the wall. It looked really linear and drastic and—

Aemilia and Sandrine laughed, Aemilia leaning on her partner's chianti-pink shoulder as she exclaimed, "I was just kidding! Chill out, kittens!" She waved at them, a sign that they should relax, and approached them to speak privately as Sandrine approached the royal family.

Bunny stood by herself as her father helped her mother up, smiling unabashedly. She had always liked Sandrine; she was funny and bright, and very affectionate. If she couldn't train with her friends, she was glad she got to train, at least for one day, with her. In greeting, the brunette ruffled Bunny's bangs, then said, more to her parents, "We're ready to go at any time."

"Go where?" Bunny asked.

"The Asteroid Belt," the green-eyed senshi grinned, "Ready to go into space?"

:

True to her word, less than an hour later Bunny sat in a starship, the compartment empty but for herself, Sailor Sandrine, and Sailor Aemilia. Aemilia was away from them, speaking quietly with the pilot as they prepared for takeoff, but over the top of the empty seats Bunny could still see her dark-haired head and the braid that draped over her purple-ish collar. Since the time of the original solar senshi and Quartet, the asteroid senshi had always had less-than-primary colors; Sailor Aemilia's skirt, collar and accessory color was a gray-purple that had been identified as 'antique pewter', while her bows were dark steel grey – overall her colors were reminiscent of a thunderstorm. Sandrine was more like a flower; her primary color was a rich yet light pink, 'chianti', while her bows were a faint yellow color. Her own senshi had dark jeweled tones, and they were all of the original style.

Well, all but hers, anyway.

She hadn't transformed yet; they suggested she wait until they get out to the station. It hadn't taken her too long to pack, especially since she would be training primarily in her senshi fuku and could transform into her new princess gown at will; mainly her little bag consisted of her pajamas, toiletries, and pictures. What had taken the longest was saying goodbye to everyone. She'd be in training for close to a month straight, and it would be the longest she had ever spent away from home, her parents, and her senshi. She was going to miss them, but Sandrine assured her that they could exchange video messages to keep in touch and that a month wasn't as long as it sounded, especially when you're training.

Bunny nearly jumped out of her seat as the engines roared even louder around them, starting the final phase before launch. It would be her second time in space, but while being out there was fun and exciting and weightless, she absolutely _hated_ getting there! Everything was so loud and shakey and stuff happened when you didn't expect it to and it could _blow up at any minute!_ She tightened her seat straps and closed her eyes tightly, gripping the armrests as she waited for the ship to start moving. Or blow up and kill her already. … but hopefully the first!

A gloved finger poked her arm, disturbing her concentration, "Hey," Sandrine asked conspiratorially, taking the seat beside her. She heard the restraints click into place and didn't answer, still praying who whoever was out there that this ship wouldn't be the first in over a thousand years to blow up. "Hey, Bunny," she repeated in a whisper with another poke. "Bun~ny, have you seen that new fairy-tale show?"

Fairy-tale show? Sandrine watched TV? _And_ her new favorite program to boot? Her eyes were open instantly, looking up at the taller woman in the seat beside her with mixed awe and extreme interest, "Yes!"

"What do you think about…"

The rest of the launch went by in a blur as she and her new tutor poured over the mysteries and possibilities surrounding the new show, discussing the characters as if they were real and the situations as though they had actually happened. They made guesses and suppositions that only time would prove to be true or not, but in the meantime they wove a more complete telling of that new world. In no time at all, it seemed, they were weightless, only the straps keeping them in place, and only a short while after that Aemilia turned around as best she could from the seats in front of them, only half of her face and the white streak of hair at her right temple showing between the cracks as she told her to look out the window.

They were passing the moon. Bunny's head cleared almost instantly, her pulse slowing as she looked at the white surface with mixed feelings. Awe, first and foremost; always awe. But then feelings of happiness and nostalgia as she remembered her first trip into space when they visited her grandmother at the Moon Kingdom; she had died shortly after her tenth birthday, but Queen Serenity the fourth had always been happy and spontaneous and filled with weird facts about _everything_, and had told that her death wasn't something to be mourned, but celebrated, that she had led a very happy and productive life and had earned a good long rest. She remembered playing out in the lower gravity, visiting the holy place and – _meeting her mother, Queen Serenity, and speaking to her about the Silver Millennium, learning of her past and the monstrous threat they faced in Queen Beryl._ Fear, resolve, loss, love, sadness, peace. Resilience. Those memories, with Luna and Artemis, with Minako, Ami, Rei and Makoto, those weren't hers. And yet they were. As was the flash of color – of gardens similar and yet different from those her Grandmother had walked though, of fountains and ballroom dresses, and a screen that showed his face, with big beautiful Earth in the background. '_Those memories were from over five thousand years ago,_' she marveled as she stared at the surface, imagining that she could see far enough to make out the Kingdom, '_and yet they're as vivid as though I had made them yesterday._'

As the moon moved out of their field of view, Aemilia started the conversation back up again, this time about a popular book series. Sandrine had read it, but Bunny hadn't – it was a book, and she had just about enough of books without reading them for pleasure – so she insisted they tell her the story in its entirety, assuring them that she had no intention of reading it any time soon. That started an epic tale whose telling lasted nearly two hours, with many embellishments and questions. From there, conversation turned to stories of what her mother was like growing up, a topic Bunny particularly enjoyed as it hinted that her mother wasn't superhuman. It turned out that, while she enjoyed her studies more, she had been incredibly clumsy and terrifyingly bad at baking, despite all of her attempts at making stuff for them to eat.

As they made their approach on the Asteroid Belt, Bunny's spirits were incredibly high, but she was itching to move. "So what do we do first?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Well, we dock," Aemilia said in all seriousness. Everyone was quiet for a moment. As the statement sunk in, Bunny exploded:

"WELL I KNOW THAT!"

The two laughed. "We'll get settled in to our quarters and head to dinner, then we'll see what you've got to work with," Aemilia amended, turning around to smile at her between the seats.

"So I'll be transforming again tonight?" she asked, just to be sure.

"Yep," Sandrine supplied, then looked over at her with a sly and suspicious expression, "But no flying away, got that? I don't want to have to chase you."

She shook her head 'no,' wondering if she'd be as panicked this time around as she was the first. Though she was afraid she'd lose herself again, she was nonetheless determined to take control this time. '_It was probably the surprise and the shock,'_ the told herself as she stared out the window at the debris field beyond them, '_I'll know what's coming, this time. That won't happen again,_' even so, as she remembered those shining eyes she couldn't help but shudder. The restraints pressed against her as the ship slowed and stopped, and, suddenly, gravity returned. It felt strange after all that time, like the disorientation from stepping out of an elevator but magnified. For a second she thought she would be sick, but the moment passed; while her face was probably green, her breakfast was still with her. '_Ug… breakfast.' _Maybe she wasn't as recovered as she would have liked to think.

A young man opened the door to their compartment, walking confidently forward. He didn't seem much older than she was – maybe sixteen – but his expression and body language could have belonged to an adult, and an adult in power, at that. He was tall hair of mixed lengths – most of it was cut on the longer side of short, but one hunk of hair at his left temple, braided intricately and tied with elastics and beads, reached his shoulders, easily. He wore a deep green jumpsuit with three stripes on the shoulder and a badge on the breast pocket, its emblem hard to read from this distance. "Senshi," he addressed with a nod, "Princess," he breathed offering a shallow bow, though his blue eyes stayed on her. "Welcome to Niven. My name is Linden; please allow me to show you to your quarters."

Aemilia and Sandrine unbuckled and stood, flawlessly, and stepped out into the isle with grace and dignity and… well everything Bunny had trouble with. Her buckle was stuck, she was sure of it. No matter how hard she pressed or in which direction, it didn't budge, didn't release the restraint. She felt like an idiot, starting to blush for being so inefficient with Niven watching; he was really cute and mature and she probably looked like a total dork. She was about to give up and ask for help when Niven stepped forward, "May I help you, Princess?"

"No need, thanks Linden," Aemilia supplied as Bunny wondered – if he was _Linden_, where did she get the name _Niven_ from?

Sandrine reached over the seat and unbuckled the seat in one fluid motion, winking as she offered a hand to help her stand. Bunny took her hand gratefully and was pulled out of the seating isle before she had a chance to trip on the restraints and embarrass herself again. Once in the isle they filed out of the compartment, though the door of the ship and down a set of stairs, around a corner, and into a hallway that seemed to sloped upwards at either end.

"It's right this way; you're rooms are in the teachers' and commanders' wing," Linden detailed, "You'll have a suite with private bathrooms, of course, but they do request you join them for dinner tonight."

"We would love to," Sandrine answered as they walked down the hallway. It was so odd – she never felt like she was going uphill, though she could plainly see a gradual slope on the floor. She wondered if it had something to do with artificial gravity, then, while Aemilia and Sandrine were asking something of Linden, she surreptitiously tried to test to see if the gravity was any weaker here than on Earth or the Moon by skipping. Just once, just as a test. Nothing. And to make matters worse, Linden looked back at her with a quirked eyebrow – she had been caught. '_And this is why I don't like experimenting,_' she grumbled silently, setting her mouth in an annoyed pout.


	4. Chapter 4

"Princess Serenity," Linden addressed, dropping back to walk beside her, using her formal title, "how do you like our ship?" He added in a whisper, "Don't worry about the buckle thing – no one can undo it on their first try."

She smiled; the boys in her class would've teased her to within an inch of her life with something like that, but it looked like Linden was just going to let it go. Why couldn't she have had classmates like him? "It's weird," she blurted out happily. He stopped dead in his tracks as if frozen, shock registering on his face. She winced – she was mucking things up already – and stopped with him, smiling awkwardly. "I mean the floors are weird – I mean nothing's _weird_, just different! In a good way," she finished lamely.

Shaking his head minutely, he then started laughing, "I suppose it is weird, isn't it?" they started walking again, "It's curved because this ship is built like a wheel that turns about a central axis; this spinning creates centripetal acceleration, which acts like gravity and pushes our feet to the outer edge." He paused, she looked at him blankly; he continued, "Er… think of swinging a bucket in a circle over your head. Have you ever done that?" she nodded, "We're like the water in the bucket, pushed up against the bottom of the bucket even when we're being swung around in a circle."

She looked at him blankly, and smiled apologetically, "I don't quite get the bucket thing – could you go back to the tire?" They had stopped outside of a door, continuing the conversation as the senshi went inside. Aemilia's blue eyes glanced back at them quizzically, but was quickly pulled out of the doorway by white gloves trimmed in pink.

"Right," he said, taking a deep breath, "Okay, so we're inside the rubber of a bicycle tire. The axis of the tire starts to spin, and because of the centripetal acceleration of the spin, we're pushed up against the rubber of the tire. We've gotten the spin just right – the acceleration is as strong as the acceleration due to Earth's gravity now, so we can actually walk on the rubber of the tire."

"But then wouldn't the walls curve inward instead of the floor?" she asked, still attempting to understand, fully realizing that she was only trying so hard because he was cute and was really trying.

"No, you see, our bodies are aligned like the spokes on the bicycle tire. The axis," he pointed directly upward, "is that way."

She thought about it – the curve of the floor, the spokes, and the axis being up, not to the side, and concluded: "_So we're walking on our sides?_ " Disorientation hit her like a wave, suddenly getting the urge to grip the wall for support. But which wall? What if she ended up grabbing the ceiling? Or what if the tire were spinning up and down, like someone were riding the bicycle? What if she were completely upside down right now?

He laughed, "Princess, you're fine," he said, putting her hands to either side of her shoulders without touching her; the effect was somewhat steadying. "Up is still up, down is still down – everything is how you perceive it to be! Listen to your instincts and open your mind; tell yourself that your feet point down and your mind will catch up. When you were on Earth you didn't feel like you were spinning on your side, right?"

She was calming down, "No…"

"And Crystal Tokyo isn't exactly on the North or South pole, is it?"

"No…"

"So you could say you've been walking on your side your entire life, couldn't you?" She thought about it, starting to understand, "Or upside down; it's all about perspective. The centripetal acceleration on Niven is like gravity back on Earth." He chuckled, "I suppose I could have just left it at that. I just really like thinking about perspectives; once I get going it's kinda hard to stop," his cheeks turned the faintest shade of pink and Bunny's heart melted – he was _blushing! _How cute!

"It's okay! It was interesting," she assured him with her best smile.

He smiled, fully recovered, "Just wait 'til you do a spacewalk. Anyway, so these are your rooms."

Their quarters were rather sparse and a little on the militaristic side, but Bunny didn't really mind; Sailor Sandrine whispered at one point on the way to dinner that she'd find a TV for them, which put a smile on her face as she whispered something back about their show. The dining hall was crowded with people, all wearing the jumpsuit uniform that Linden wore but with mild differences, such as number of stripes and shades of green. Most looked to be around her age or older, with a handful of girls in amongst the boys; everyone was chatting happily for a moment, but when they caught sight of her they all stood as one and bowed crisply. They were silent.

"Uh," she froze, "Hi?"

"Thank them," Sandrine said out of the corner of her mouth, still managing to look formidable and graceful beside her.

"Oh! Um," Bunny cleared her throat, "Thank you! " No one moved; she continued lamely, "…. For having me… It's an honor to be here with you." She bobbed in respect, mentally congratulating herself for saving the speech from another lame ending – she really needed to work on public speaking. They all stood straight again, still at attention.

"Princess Serenity will be staying with us for one month," Linden announced, then started walking again as the crowd returned to their conversations, sitting back down to finish their meal. His explanation was crisp and to the point – she preferred that style to the flowery one her speech writer used; maybe she could convince her to switch tactics…

He led them into a separate room to the side and directed them to a table. She glanced around at the empty seats and decided that they must be in the teachers' meal-room; part of her wanted to sit in the room with everyone else... but this was probably for the best, right? In seconds trays were placed in front of them filled with nutritious food – no dessert in sight, unfortunately – but even the vegetables were starting to smell good. Her stomach rumbled. She reached for her fork and speared a baby carrot when suddenly the door burst open to emit a crowd of noisy, cheering, and talkative boys! She jumped in surprise and her fork clattered onto her plate – she swore she heard Sandrine giggle, but she couldn't be certain against the backdrop of new voices.

She froze like her namesake as the troop crowded in and fell silent, all eleven eyes on her. One thought crossed her mind: '_I am so glad I'm not chewing anything._ '

Sailor Aemilia and Sailor Sandrine stood and walked around the table to shake hands with two of the older gentlemen; while they were all dressed alike, there were clearly two groups: teenagers, and middle-agers. The older men must be teachers, then, but what were the teenagers doing here?

"Sailor Aemilia," one of them addressed, shaking her hand.

"Sailor Sandrine," the other did the same. "I hope the trip wasn't too strenuous?" he paused, "Princess Serenity," he bowed, "Welcome to Niven. My name is Tyrone."

"I'm Byren," the other addressed, "And these are our fellow teachers," the other four older gentlemen half-bowed, "and top students;" the boys did the same. '_Top Students'_ she mused as she looked at the five of them, noticing Linden also bowing slightly off to the side. That might explain it… maybe the top scoring students got to eat with the teachers? Maybe the teachers got something especially good at dessert or something… Byren continued, his steel-gray eyes glowing with the hint of a smile, "they'll be assisting with protection detail during our young Princess's training."

"What?" a brunet student asked, looking at Byren as if he hadn't heard correctly.

"_This_ was the 'super important mission' you were talking about?" one of the taller boys growled skeptically, as if he were annoyed at the prospect. "Can I_ un_volunteer?" Bunny pouted but wasn't able to respond before someone else was speaking. It wasn't her fault that he had volunteered for something blindly! What a jerk!

"We get to protect the Princess?" another brown-haired boy was exclaiming, turning to her with a grin, "That's great!" His smile was infectious; she couldn't help but join him, despite the stupid jerk in the room. If no one else, maybe she and this guy and Linden could be friends!

"That explains those maneuvers you had us going through…" the other tall boy mused, crossing his arms as his deep blue eyes looked her over. She felt like she was being measured and sat a little taller, almost used to such scrutiny after years of royal introductions but still not liking it very much.

The remaining boy didn't say a word, but didn't look unhappy at the apparently unexpected announcement.

One of the teachers called them to attention and immediately the students straightened, their eyes focused on some point behind her and higher than her head. It was a cool trick… and she wondered if she could make them do it... _She imagined herself standing tall with a military uniform on and a commander's stick in her hand and barking "Attention!" and having all five of them snap to attention. … and then she ran behind the stupid jerk yelling 'One-two one-two one-two!' as he raced to keep in front of her… _ she chuckled under her breath, still daydreaming, _'Drop and give me five hundred!' she ordered, and he obeyed, "Yes, Bunny, it is an honor to serve!"_

"_Bunny, you're such a wonderful commander," Linden complimented, "I'd follow you into battle anywhere…" _

'_Thank you, Linden,' she blushed, 'But taking care of insubordinates like him is nothing, really…'_

"_Oh, no, Princess," Linden replied, his blue-green eyes, "it's really quite impressive; I'm sure you'll be an excellent leader for us…"_

Her elbow was jostled and she started, suddenly finding herself back in reality with Sandrine sitting beside her again and Linden in line for food with the Jerk. The teachers had already sat down around them, speaking amongst each other – what had she missed? Guiltily she looked over to Sandrine, waiting for some reproach for checking out, but the senshi just smiled and pointedly took up her fork. Bunny did the same, taking a small bite out of the carrot with unexpectedly mixed reactions.

"You didn't miss much," Sandrine commented, "Just an explanation of their abilities and honors."

She didn't dislike it, but at the same time she _hated_ the taste. She forced herself to swallow as she held the remainder of the carrot in front of her face, staring at it.

"They're all extremely intelligent and gifted flyers; top scorers on every test," Sandrine continued.

It was orange. All carrots were orange. It smelled... like carrots smell. Maybe she had just imaged it. She took a nibble from the other side and nearly had to spit it back out. Trying not to breathe, or gag, she moved the small piece to the back of her tongue and swallowed this one, too, her mouth in a grimace. Since when had carrots been so… _gross?_

"And they all breathe fire, every last one of them."

Bunny turned to Sandrine, offering her the speared half-eaten carrot, "Does this taste weird to you?"

Sandrine rolled her eyes, "And here I didn't think you were listening to me." She reached over with her own fork and took a carrot off of her plate; however, before it reached her lips, Aemilia appeared behind them.

"You food tastes weird?" she repeated quietly, her voice barely making it to the two of them, speaking seriously though the smile on her lips. "What kind of 'weird'?"

"I don't know," Bunny replied, "Just funny. And Gross."

"How do you feel now?" Aemilia asked, "Weak? Is your stomach burning? Feeling sleepy?"

"You think she's been-?" Sandrine ate the carrot without another word, concentrating on the taste.

A shiver ran down Bunny's spine as she stared in horror at the bit of vegetable on her fork. Poisoned. Who would poison her? Why would they poison- THE JERK! She looked across the dining room as the tall boy filled his tray, speaking cheerfully to the other students. He must have – but how? Did it matter? She was going to die! She was going to die out on this weird bicycle tire floating in space!

"Bunny, I need you to concentrate," Aemilia coaxed, sitting down beside her and using her thumb and forefinger to turn Bunny's face so it looked only at her. "Now how do you feel?"

"I… I don't know," Bunny replied.

"Sleepy?"

Bunny relaxed and blinked, "No."

"Stomach ache?"

"No…"

"Any burning?"

Bunny shook her head. Aemilia let her go, seemingly lost in thought.

"It tastes normal to me," Sandrine reported, then took the fragment of carrot right off of Bunny's fork and tried it. "This one too; just tastes like a –" A smile crept over her, "A carrot. Say, Aemilia, remember that file we read before leaving?"

"Yeah…" Aemilia replied, the two of them still speaking quietly.

"What was Neo-Queen Serenity's least favorite food?" Sandrine looked at Bunny now, grinning.

"Ah," Aemilia chuckled, ruffling Bunny's bangs before standing up again to join the teachers, "You had me worried there for a minute, little miss!"

She didn't understand, but had the feeling that she wasn't poisoned anymore. When Sandrine didn't offer any explanation, instead switching their plates so Bunny had peas now instead of carrots, Bunny asked bluntly, "So what just happened?"

She nodded for her to start eating, and Bunny obliged. "Before leaving, Aemilia and I briefed ourselves on little-known characteristics of Neo-Queen Serenity, just in case something from her life leaked into yours; a few things you two had in common already, but one of the differences was her least favorite food: Carrots. She _hated_ carrots."

"But I didn't hate carrots," Bunny objected, swallowing a mouthful of meatloaf.

"Your taste buds wouldn't be identical, so that wasn't exactly unexpected. However, now that your memories have come back to you, your past experiences with carrots are mingling with your present experience; it's like having someone standing behind you whispering to you about how awful they taste and being very convincing about it. Long story short, you have a new food on your 'dislike' list." She laughed and started eating.

:

The meal went by pretty quickly after that. Bunny wondered now and again about what else would change, and how she felt about it. On one hand, she felt like she should feel violated – someone other than herself changed how she felt about something, like they were messing around in her head; on the other hand… that 'someone' kinda _was_ herself… so was there really anything wrong? By the time her plate had emptied, she hadn't entirely decided either way. Things would sort themselves out, eventually right?

Just as she placed her fork neatly beside her plate, her tray was lifted and taken away, "I got this, Princess!" the enthusiastic brunet from earlier declared, bending over her shoulder with his brown eyes inches away from hers. "Welcome to Niven!" he cheerfully greeted as he walked away. She smiled at Sandrine, who looked back with a teasing expression and moved to take her own tray, only to have another crash on top of it. "Sorry about that, senshi!" the brunet had returned, smiling apologetically as he whisked both their trays away this time.

Sandrine laughed, "Very nice." They stood together, and suddenly the rest of the room was on their feet, too, the students saluting. She wondered if it was for her and blushed, but was proven wrong as the teachers starting filing out of the room. Once the last of them exited, the students all relaxed again, speaking rather loudly to each other. As Bunny pushed her chair in she couldn't help but eavesdrop... not that anything cool came of it. They were talking about some sort of speed trial. She sighed and followed Sandrine, joining Aemilia near the door. The two of them spoke together about the teachers as she zoned out.

'_No dessert. Surely they have ovens, and stoves, and ingredients – why not make little cakes? Just one little cake. Just one.'_ Her mouth fell open with a sudden realization: it was June 22nd. Her birthday was in eight days, but she would be staying up here for a _month._ _'A birthday without cake? Without dad and mom and Zita and Caresta and Tunis and Biera?'_ she closed her mouth and pouted, feeling a little down about the whole day,_ 'I hate carrots. I'm stuck up in this bicycle tire in space surrounded by military genius boys. I'm remembering things I didn't do and trying to control powers I haven't earned. And there's no cake. And I'll turn 15 without my dad singing the birthday song and my mom popping party-crackers and my name written in pink icing…'_

The senshi started walking and she turned to follow, wallowing in a moment of self-pity as she stared at the long bows of her guardians.

"Hey, Princess!" the cheerful boy from before called. She turned and returned his smile – it was nearly impossible not to, he seemed so perfectly happy. He waved, "Have a good night! We'll see you bright and early for training!"

"Except for that whole 'bright' part," the previously-quiet boy said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Right," the brunet corrected himself, "No sunlight." He smiled again, "It'll be early, in any case!"

She giggled, her shoulders shaking as her hands reflexively covered her mouth. "I'll see you early then. But wait! What are your names?"

"I'm Kansas," the cheerful brunet introduced. "You know Linden, and that's Galen," he thumbed the sarcastic silent one; Gil had short blonde hair a shade lighter than Linden's, with green eyes. Of them all, he was the shortest (though he was easily taller than she).

"The guy with the glasses is Tetsuya," that was the smart guy who had looked her over – then again, they were all supposed to be smart. Tetsuya was one of the tall ones, with black hair and blue eyes; while he was sitting at a table and talking with some of the other guys, he was still watching her.

"Beside him is Faxon, but I think that's his last name. His real name is… well I don't really know his real name. And I think Galen is using his last name instead of his first, not that it matters," Faxon had dark brown hair that was almost black and was talking animatedly with the guy across from him…

"And the other guy with black hair," _the Jerk!_ "is Brendan."

She nodded and smiled, her eyes burning a hole in the back of Brendan's head, "Thanks Kansas!" she redirected, "You can call me Bunny if you'd like."

He put his hand to the back of his head nervously, "Gee, thanks, Princess!"

"Goodnight!" she wished with a bob of her head, then turned to catch up with Sandrine and Aemilia. They weren't too far ahead, and the three of them continued together to their quarters to retire for the night. Aemilia gave her instructions for an exercise to increase her concentration, and told her to practice. Sandrine winked and handed her a novel as she 'escorted' her to her bedroom. But really, once Bunny sat down on the bed, she found herself lying down, then lying down under the covers. She was asleep in minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

"Bunny, let's get moving!" a chipper voice lilted as lights overhead were flicked on, simultaneously inflicting both Bunny's ears and eyes with unwanted attention. She winced and brought the covers over her head, subconsciously blocking the intrusion via whatever means available, but those defenses fell easily as a form jumped onto the foot of her bed and started bouncing. "Get up, get up! Get up!" the cheerful voice sang as the covers pulled away.

"Noooooo," Bunny groaned, covering her exposed ear with her hand, "Go away."

The bouncing stopped. "Honestly, Bunny, I don't know how you make it to classes on time! What do they have to do, pull you from the bed?" The form jumped off of her bed, landing soundlessly, and the gloved-figure grabbed her arm and pulled. "Up and at 'em!" she cried sunnily as Bunny was hauled out of bed. "Oh good! You're already dressed!" Bunny's eyes opened sluggishly to reveal Sailor Sandrine, smiling unabashedly as she led her into the main room and tossed her into the bathroom. "Hurry up! We're probably late~"

Bunny knew where she was – she had woken up at intervals all night from nightmares involving tires and space and her grandmother riding dolphins into battle, so she knew the ceiling of her room rather well by this point; what she didn't know was the time. She used the facilities, washed her hands and her face, then set to work readjusting her heart-shaped pigtail buns, the eagerness of what lie ahead hitting her in intervals, gradually waking her completely and making her both nervous and incredibly excited. She would be transforming today. By the time she exited the bathroom she didn't know if she wanted to jump up and down and cheer, or go back in there and throw up. No time to decide, however, as Aemilia took her by the hand and ushered her out the door, Sandrine behind them.

"You're lucky Sandrine woke you," Aemilia stated, not unkindly, "I would've told you once and then tossed water on you," she turned and winked, but Bunny felt like she was telling the truth and decided she'd try to wake up earlier tomorrow.

"What time is it?" she asked instead, walking quickly to keep up with the dark-haired senshi.

"Mmm, 'bout six thirty in the morning Crystal Tokyo time," Sandrine supplied helpfully.

"Did we want to get up before everyone else or –" she stopped mid-sentence when up ahead they saw a line of students standing outside a closed door, speaking quietly to each other. Bunny stood straighter and smiled, waving to the students who glanced her way, not saying a word until they passed the last student. "Do they really start classes this early in the morning?" she whispered to Aemilia, marveling.

"It's an hour later for them," she replied, "so expect to get up an hour earlier tomorrow."

Bunny whined, looking down at her feet as she trudged along after them; she had never been great about waking up on time. They entered the nearly-empty mess hall and went straight to the teacher's room, where they grabbed a nutritious breakfast of vegetable-filled omelets, toast, and juice; she didn't eat much. There were no sign of teachers or commanders or students – not even Linden – and nothing to take her mind off of her upcoming transformation. When asked if she was ready, she nodded and stood with them.

They went out through the side door everyone else had entered through yesterday, and after a few quick twists and turns she found herself in a narrower hallway from the rest of the ship, very long and actually straight out ahead of them rather than gently curving to the side. Aemilia led the way, turning at a T-branch and pressing a button on the wall that opened an elevator-like door, revealing a huge, empty room beyond that stretched off in every direction – including _down._ She gulped loudly, _'Are we really going to jump down there?_'

Without warning, Sandrine threw herself into the room and just kept going – floating quickly towards the other wall. "Come on in, Bunny!" she called, stretching her arms out welcomingly as she floated away, "The no-gravity's fine!" She turned her head sharply to see the far wall approaching, made a quick noise of surprise and wings popped out of her back, curling in such a way that they stopped her movement.

Bunny was amazed. Wings, real wings – feathered, like an Angel's, and looking completely in place on Sailor Sandrine's back. She watched how they moved, flapping gracefully and adroitly as the dark-pink senshi maneuvered herself back into the center of the room, where she waited, smiling.

Aemilia put her hand on Bunny's shoulder and Bunny turned her head to meet the older senshi's gaze. "Bunny, a senshi's wings are special. They break many physical laws; they allow us to maneuver in space, where under the rule of physics, we wouldn't be able to move without another object present to give us momentum; they can also give us incredible intergalactic speed. Ages and ages ago, Eternal Sailor Moon, with Sailor Kinmoku and the Sailor Starlights as her guides, managed to fly to the center of the galaxy in mere days, while it takes light over 27000 _years_ to traverse that same distance."

A chill traveled down Bunny's spine as fragmented images of a green, blue and pink cloud suspended in space flashed before her eyes, followed hazily by a garden of stars. "I think…" she started, then shook her head, "I think I can almost remember that…"

"Then you should have no problem with your first lesson, right?"

A hand on her back propelled her forward and before she could have any say in the matter the floor beneath her had vanished. She squeaked in fear, flailing her arms around in circles as her back arched and her mind screamed _'I'M FALLING! I'M FALLING!_' as she moved against her will towards Sailor Sandrine in the center of the room. Aemilia appeared beside her, calm and steady with her wings working tranquilly behind her, a teasing smile on her face, "Flailing won't help you here."

Bunny scowled at her, and took control of her limbs. Still glaring, she started dogpaddling forward, feeling pretty proud of herself that she remembered that swimming lesson. Aemilia only laughed and pinched the back of her dress. Bunny's forward movement stopped completely, despite her dogpaddle. "Hey! No fair!" she called, but turned to find Aemilia had already let go. With all of her swimming experience, she was moving nowhere. "I told you, physics dictates that you need another object to create motion. Without our wings, we would be powerless to direct ourselves in space."

Sandrine flew over and reoriented herself so that she and Bunny had head and feet pointing he same direction, and Bunny got the incredibly strange feeling that she was standing straight, despite the door now being below their feet. "_It's all about perspective,"_ Linden had said. She shook her head, and cried out, "Space is confusing!"

Sandrine laughed, "You'll get used to it. Why don't you go ahead and transform?"

She nodded, and waited. … Nothing happened.

"Go ahead," Aemilia coaxed, angled so that she would be standing on her head if the ceiling of the room they were in was still considered 'up'.

"Right, sure," she nodded. "… How do I do that?" She didn't have a transformation stick, like the Asteroid senshi all had; at least, none had appeared to her.

"Oh… good question…" Sandrine commented, a finger to her lips as she thought

"No stick, no compact…" Aemilia mused, her brows furrowed. "Wait. Try to remember back in Usagi's lifetime; there was a period she was a senshi before the crystal emerged – it would've been inside her as it is inside you now. What did she say back then?"

"Good idea!" Sandrine complimented.

"Thanks; I am pretty fantastic," Aemilia returned with mock grandeur.

Bunny closed her eyes, blocking out their banter as she tried to think back… _A black cat in a windowsill, with a bald crescent moon spot…. "It isn't a bald spot, don't be so rude!" _She smiled_ …a strange conversation, and a transformation brooch… _her heart seemed to catch on fire with the remembered feeling of strength and power. _**"Moon Prism Power, Make up!"**_ She repeated the phase aloud with her memory-self, but nothing happened. She looked at her hands to be sure, but there were no pearl rings there. "But that's what she – I – said!"

"Bunny," Sandrine said quietly, pointing at her chest.

She looked down to see a new compact clipped to the center of the chest of her gown. She carefully unclipped it, staring at the six-pointed golden star encased in a glass disk. A trio of pearls sprouting feathers sat at 30° angles from the bottom; it was beautiful. And it was hers, and hers alone. Usagi, Neo-Queen Serenity, had not used this compact, she was the first. And yet she knew exactly what to say. "Cosmos Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Warmth spread through her as the compact disappeared from her hand and reappeared on her chest. Without looking she knew she had transformed, feeling confident and powerful and _loved_, like Venus and the others were right there with her, celebrating the achievement. "I did it!" she cheered happily, and the moment she wanted to hug Sandrine was the moment she felt her wings appear, pushing her forward to bump into the other senshi, sending them both off course. Sandrine laughed as Bunny cried out in confusion, trying to tell her wings to stop moving, "No! Wait! Stay put!" but that only seemed to confuse them more – can wings even _get_ confused?

"Bunny!" Aemilia called in a 'teacher voice', "Just calm down! They react with you!" She was beside them but pulled back suddenly. Bunny only wondered why for a moment.

They crashed into the far wall, Sandrine a giggling mess, Bunny still confused and a little embarrassed, but starting to have fun.

:

By lunchtime, she had nearly mastered movement with her wings. It was all about loose concentration – you want to move somewhere, you will yourself to move there, and you try not to think too hard about it. Aemilia was impressed by how quickly she had gotten the hang of it, having expected to spend all day in the practice room, but as they stepped landed back into the gravitized room on the station and willed their wings away, she mused aloud about changing the afternoon's activities. Bunny smiled to herself, proud to have at least one thing she was naturally good at. She considered powering down for lunch, but since they would be practicing again right after, it would probably be better to just stay transformed, right? She smiled, following after Sandrine and Aemilia, feeling like part of a group. A really amazing group.

They made their way back to the cafeteria, Bunny's stomach grumbling hungrily as they opened the door to a noisy room. Sandrine and Aemilia went straight for the food line but Bunny froze; somehow the thought that the students and teachers would be there for lunch had escaped her. Chairs scooted back as they rose, facing her, all eyes on her; for a split second she saw the glowing eyes of the audience two night ago, but then the commander bowed sharply and the rest of the room followed. Bunny glanced to Sandrine and Aemilia for help, but they just stood smiling.

"May we introduce," Aemilia addressed the crowd as they straightened, taking their eyes away from her for a moment, "Sailor Cosmos."

"Princess Bunny Serenity, crowned Princess of the Solar System," Sandrine finished with pride in her voice.

Eyes were on her again with mingled "Congratulations" thrown her way. She heard faintly but clearly from the student table, "Oh! I see it now!" "You guys didn't see it? I thought it was obvious…"

She joined her fellow senshi – how neat was it to think that she was one of them now? – in line for food and glanced at her reflection in the glass. She looked like herself… just without the moon symbol. Curiously she picked the starred golden charm in the center tiara off of her forehead to see if her birthright was still there. At first there was nothing, but gradually it faded into place, right where it had always been. The second she let go of the charm, however, it completely disappeared. Strange. "Why didn't they recognize me right away?" she asked.

"It's a glamour put in place by the suit. You appear to them as you appear to yourself, but while they see you as a senshi there's a mental block in place that prevents them from connecting your senshi self and your civilian self. Well, your royal self, in your case," Aemilia explained. "It was especially useful back in pre-Crystal-Tokyo times when Sailor Moon and her senshi fought crime and had to hide their identity from the general populace, else risk their family's safety and forfeit any peace they had left in their lives."

She nodded in comprehension. It would've been rough…

They sat down with their trays at a nearly empty table, Aemilia excusing herself right away to discuss something with one of the head guys. Bunny took a big satisfying bite out of her sandwich. "I didn't think I was this hungry," she commented between bites.

"You get used to it," Sandrine replied, "Just wait until we start practicing those powers of yours; you don't know the meaning of hungry until then!"

Kansas appeared behind the seat across from her. "Hey Princess! Or Sailor Cosmos, sorry," he corrected with an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his head.

"Hi Kansas; Bunny is still fine!" she told him with a friendly smile.

"Right! Oh yeah! Bunny," he repeated, testing the name, "Bunny, Sailor Sandrine, may I sit with you?" he asked, his brown eyes enthusiastic.

Sandrine returned his smile, "Sure."

"Great!" he took a seat and crossed his arms, leaning over the surface with an inquisitive smile. "So you're a senshi! We were wondering why we'd be needed to protect you! I mean, most of us are good with hand-to-hand combat in some form or fashion anyway, but why would you need pilots? Faxon wondered if there was some sort of matchmaking or something going on and you needed an official escort out past the system, but Tetsuya didn't think that'd be the case since we haven't exactly passed Uranus yet as a team."

Bunny's face was beet-red. "M-matchmaking?" she squeaked, "As in you thought I was betrothed?"

_Why did Linden have to choose this moment to join us? _She wondered as the blonde took a seat beside Kansas, his eyes attentive on the brunet as he continued his thoughts on the conversation. Linden looked relaxed, but there were no beads in his hair today; just the one long braid tied with unadorned elastic. Did he think she was betrothed, too?

"Yeah," Kansas said, looking up and away as if lost in thought, "then again, it would be really weird if you think about it. You're physically only fourteen, right? That's way too young to marry. … but maybe not too young to meet someone they were thinking about you marrying. What system is he from?" Kansas asked innocently, his brown eyes inquisitive as they focused on her.

"But I'm not engaged!" she quickly answered, glancing once at Linden before back at Kansas, "I only came up here to train to be a senshi!"

"Oh yeah!" Kansas laughed, "Sorry, I got carried away! I'm glad you're not in an arranged engagement though – ever since studying arranged marriages in history and their impact on women I've always appreciated that Princesses have always chosen their husband during the Crystal Millennium. Anyway, so what have you been up to today?"

She was glad to be rid of that topic; while she enjoyed imagining her wedding when with her friends, talking about whom she would marry with anyone but Carestia, Zita, Tunis and Biera felt strange; but it had never really occurred to her what it would be like to have another decide whom she would marry. A thousand years and more with someone somebody else chose for her… that could be a nightmare. "Flying lessons," she replied, turning her mind elsewhere.

"That's right," Linden cut in, "I nearly forgot that senshi had wings."

"They do?" Kansas replied, staring over at Linden and back at she and Sandrine. "You do?"

"And can fly through space," Linden added coolly.

"_Serioulsy?_"

"It's been a long time since senshi have had missions beyond Earth, hasn't it?" Linden inquired of Sandrine as Kansas looked like his eyes might bug out of his head at any moment.

"Quite some time; we do still run on forays to meet with senshi from other systems, but that's once every half-millennium at most," Sandrine clarified nicely as Aemilia took a seat beside her, apparently finished with speaking to the commander.

"_Can you really fly through space on wings?"_ Kansas asked Bunny in a whisper.

"Yes," Bunny nodded.

"That is so cool!" he exclaimed, "I've always dreamed of flying through space without a ship! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love piloting, but without a ship – that's just so cool!" Linden stood suddenly, tapping Kansas on the shoulder as he did so. The brunet looked confused for a moment but jumped to his feet, too; glancing around Bunny realized that the teachers must be leaving. "Well, thanks for letting me sit with you! We have to go now, but I'll see you at dinner!" Kansas smiled and took Bunny's empty try, stacked it on Sandrine's, and raced off to turn them in as the other five students filed towards the door. Linden nodded and smiled as he left, and Kansas waved hurriedly as he went to catch up. Bunny waved back with a smile.

It was suddenly very quiet. "Those two are nice," Sandrine commented, and Bunny nodded in agreement. "What did the commander have to say?" she asked of Aemilia.

The grey-purple senshi finished chewing before responding, "He said he could have them ready to set up a perimeter in minutes; we're a go."

"A go to do what?" Bunny asked.

"Well, I thought that you had zero-gravity flight pretty much in order, so we're going to move on to space flight."


	6. Chapter 6

Bunny gulped. She and Sandrine floated in the middle of the zero-gravity room, their wings keeping them in one place. Aemilia had her quickly go through some of the exercises – circling, backwards motion, forwards motion, turns on the spot and the like – but had eventually determined that she passed, and now Aemilia was back in the station, supposedly to open the large door overhead. The door that would lead them into space. No gravity. No air. "You sure we don't need astronaut helmets or anything?" she asked again.

Sandrine chuckled, "Yes, Bunny, I'm sure we don't need astronaut helmets."

Aemilia returned, flying over to them gracefully as the door to the space station closed tightly behind her. She handed each of them a tiny, nearly-spherical soft device with a tubular spoke coming out of it. Sandrine immediately stuck it into her ear but Bunny couldn't help asking, "What is this?"

"A communication device," Aemilia explained, showing her how to put it on and explaining further as Bunny set it in place. "No air in space means no sound waves; however the senshi of Kinmoku developed this device to give senshi a way of communicating in the near-vacuum of space. It simultaneously uses breathing patterns and light thought scanning to convey your message via radio waves, which are picked up and translated by our devices. It's pretty much like a space phone."

_The Kinmoku senshi… _she found herself wondering if it was the Three Lights and Kakyuu or their descendants that came up with these. But she'd have to think about that later because the next thing she knew the doors above her were opening. At first the white walls just looked like they had a black stripe painted down the center, but they receded quickly after that, bit-by-bit revealing the vast black of space. Suddenly her hands were grabbed on both sides, and for good reason – they were being sucked out. She screamed. It was as if every part of her were being pulled, like she was being dismembered piece by piece… and then it was over.

She was breathing quickly, staring around trying to make sense of things. They had spun out of the room. There it was, below her, doors still wide open. Aemilia and Sandrine were still with her, and she loosened her grip, smiling at them apologetically when she realized how hard she had been gripping their hands, but she didn't release them just yet. She looked around. Stars were everywhere… and the sun was right in front of her. Her gaze was inquisitive as she studied the star; it was smaller. Where on Earth the sun was roughly the size of her thumbnail at arm's length, this was more like… well like her pinky fingernail. And it didn't hurt to look at. "Why doesn't—" she started asking, but Sandrine held up a finger and she and the other senshi tapped their ears.

"Sorry Baby-Bunny! We thought you might scream so we shut them off," Sandrine smiled, "What were you saying?"

She blushed – she _had_ screamed, and it would've been right in their ears, too – but asked her question again, "Why doesn't it hurt to look at the sun?"

"Don't look at it directly," Aemilia instructed and she averted her gaze immediately, "We can look at it, but never for long periods of time. It's the tiaras that allow this – they're actually positioned on our forehead for such situations; they're actually emitting waves that lessen the brightness of close stars to more bearable levels. However, you should never look directly into the sun at any instance as prolonged exposure could still make you go blind."

She nodded appreciatively, but couldn't help but glance on either side of the sun until she found it. There, suspended in darkness and shining resiliently, was a pale blue dot with a white speck beside it. Earth. What were Carestia and everyone doing right now? Probably in school… it was so far away. Looking around, the vastness of space nearly overwhelmed her. Nothing; in every direction, there was nothing, just more darkness and stars. She felt incredibly small.

"So, Bunny, what do you think?" Sandrine asked letting go of her hand.

"It's… huge," she replied quietly, looking up to see more stars, bright, sometimes fuzzy, all around them. She looked down to see Niven far below them and, just like Linden had said, it looked like a bicycle tire… or a donut… but she could only really see one side. The rest was lost in darkness so complete she might've been talked into believing that it was only half of a station, except that it was spinning. Already the tiny white rectangle that was their training room was moving away from the light, becoming a white beacon lost in shadow. Would she be able to find it again? She paused, her mind fixated on the tangent, and let go of her guardian's hands. Slowly she winged backwards, her hand held up to keep the two of them in place; she had to see something. The farther behind them she went, the less of them she could see, until, finally, they were gone. All that remained of them were faint silhouettes, a hint of color about Sandrine's head as the light filtered through her hair, a touch of fluffy white haze about their wings. In the right setting, they could be invisible to her.

How easy would it be to get lost out here?

She felt something small strike her leg and she turned quickly – too quickly, as she started spinning almost uncontrollably away, careening back towards the senshi as she caught sight of the sun one moment, and a field of great brown rocks the next.

"Control it!" Aemilia called into her earpiece.

"One wing break!" Sandrine suggested, and Bunny followed her advice, flinging one wing out against the spin to catch herself. Once she managed to stop all movement, the stormy senshi and her flowery counterpart appeared at either side, "Good! See, you're getting it!" Sandrine smiled encouragingly.

But Bunny only had eyes for the immense field of flowing rocks beyond them. Brown and grey, pock-marked and smooth, small as a pebble, like the one that struck her, and larger than the Crystal Palace itself: the Asteroid Belt. The large masses were rolling, some lazily, others spinning quickly, as they passed at varying speeds, each orbiting the sun as its own entity, each affected by the gravity of the star, the planets surrounding it, and each other. Their course was like a dance of giants; a dangerous one, stretching as far as she could see.

The rest of her afternoon was spent acclimating to the environment of space. The stark emptiness, the confusing alignment – there were no 'up' and 'down', no 'left' or 'right', everything was relative to where they were and where they were trying to be. But, after hours upon hours now of nothing but flight, Bunny was starting to get tired and bored. After jumping off of a rather large asteroid to land on her toes upon another, she turned to her guardians and asked in an almost whiney voice, "Am I done with flight lessons yet?"

"Well, I don't know," Aemilia returned, "Are you too sore to move?"

She sighed and drooped her head, "No," she groaned.

Sandrine cheerfully replied, "Then we're not done!" and flew just above her head.

"But it's so boring!" she complained looking up to catch hazel-brown eyes as they passed.

"It's building a foundation," Sandrine replied, still smiling. "You'll be glad you did this later!"

"But-AAH!" she screamed as the asteroid she stood on suddenly flew off in another direction, taking her with it. She jumped up, dodged around an incoming rock and managed to backbend around a soccer-ball-sized projectile and managed to wiggle-spin her way back out of the field, only grazed by a couple of orbiting debris. "WHAT HAPPENED?" she cried, her mind still spinning as goosebumps traveled up and down her spine in fear as her imagination ran away with the possibility of space monsters.

"Aemilia!" Sandrine scolded, her voice transmitting easily though she was nowhere close to her now. Bunny searched through the field until she saw them, but she hesitated, unsure of whether she wanted to return in there.

"Sorry, sorry," Aemilia laughed, "You did a great job, Bunny!"

Still breathing quickly, Bunny asked in confusion, "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Bunny, she shot a rock into the asteroid you were standing on," Sandrine explained, "_Without _warning you. Aemilia, really?"

"Hey, she survived unscathed! Didn't you, Bunny?"

Pouting, Bunny was about to answer when she saw a streak of bright red out of the corner of her eye. She twitched and immediately looked down to see angry red scratches on her arm, just starting to bleed. She cried out in a wail of pain, not knowing what to do. Could she bleed in space? Was all the blood going to come shooting out of her body? SHE WAS GOING TO DIE!

"Bunny! Bunny calm down! What's wrong?" Sandrine asked as she moved closer, true concern coloring her words, but when she was close enough to see what had happened, she sighed mightily. "It's just a scratch," she said, more for Aemilia's sake than their own. "You're okay."

"But we're in SPACE!" she cried out, "All my blood is going to shoot out of my arm and I'll look like a giant prune," she could picture it now! How terrible! "and then I'll _DIE._"

Sandrine laughed, "No you won't."

"If your blood was going to shoot out into space, it's already be gone, Bunnykins," Aemilia added matter-of-factly, "Now hurry up, let's go through some more exercises."

She groaned; now that dying wasn't on the menu her immediate future was back to boring. "Can't I try something else?" she asked while she and Sandrine worked their way back through the field, her scratch all but forgotten as they dodged incoming and outgoing asteroids. "Like an attack? You hit a rock with something, can't I?"

Aemilia snorted, "And what would happen if you accidently struck _my_ asteroid? Or Sandrine's? Or Zita's?"

Her face blanched, "What would happen?"

Aemilia laughed, "I don't know, actually. We'd probably die, or at least our crystals wouldn't be reborn again."

"And that's funny?"

She shrugged, "Don't take it so seriously; we wouldn't be that careless. None of our asteroids are even in this general area of the belt; the closes is Vesta, which is still a good ways off. But when we do get up to attacks, don't attack anything bigger than a house, okay? Just for good measure."

Bunny felt uneasy, realizing now that each of the larger rocks around them had a star seed within it, growing and absorbing the power of the asteroid to one day become a sailor crystal. A future guardian for her daughter's daughters… her hands clasped uncertainly before her, her eyes finding a good sized asteroid and wondering who could be sleeping within it.

"Oh, come on, Bunny, it's okay…" Aemilia tried again, but her sentence tapered off; it was Sandrine who finished it for her.

The auburn-haired senshi swung in close and floated just before Bunny, drawing the princess's eyes into her own, "Do you know what the cool thing about the Asteroid Belt is? … It's constantly growing and changing. These rocks form, break apart, and reform all over again, giving and taking energy away from the whole system to evolve and grow. Look, you see," she looked around and saw, far above their heads, lit from the left and practically invisible on the right, a car-sized rock. It orbited alongside several other asteroids of various sizes, but as Sandrine continued, Bunny saw what she was trying to illustrate, "See that peach-sized rock beside it? It just crashed right into it – it's gone. Two became one, and nothing bad happened. And look over there," she pointed farther to their right, where the asteroids thinned but were practically entirely lit by the sun, "Watch – that one is moving so fast it's going to collide with the other. See? There." Sure enough, the two collided; the one that had moved faster continued at a slower pace, while the rock it hit separated completely into two segments. "It was destroyed, but it will reform again. That's how life is out here – my own Asteroid might have even been to small to grow a sailor crystal back in the times of our ancestors, but through the evolution of the system and the help of gravity, it did! Nothing you, or I, or Aemilia does will disrupt this cycle; Asteroids will always find a way."

Bunny smiled, feeling a lot better about the situation, but this pause didn't last long. "Yeah, what she said," Aemilia shrugged, "Now, back to practice!"

Sandrine bounced away, "Catch me!" she called back, weaving in among and around the rocks.

:

It felt like they had been out there for hours upon hours. Bunny, bone tired and bored with the current training-game of hide-seek-and-chase, floated lazily in the stream of rocks, more on the side of the outer system than the inner. Her wings ached, her arms ached, her legs ached, her back ached and her head ached when she made the mental list of things that ached. She was ready to go inside and get something to eat. Like chicken. Or potatoes. Or even green beans. Anything would taste good right about now, but Aemilia said that she had to do it one last time. She looked towards the inner system and the sun, almost enjoying how the asteroids made things disappear in complete darkness before her. It was almost like being in the woods on a sunny day with leaves dappling the sunlight around… except, when you looked up in the woods you could see through the leaves, and that wasn't so with the rocks.

Was she procrastinating? Sure. Despite her want of food and rest and that she had to find them both before she could officially engage in either, her body refused to move quickly, and it needed to move quickly if she wanted to catch Sandrine. So she was waiting, hoping in some sort of off-chance that she'd spot one of them so she'd know where to go once she had the energy. … if she had the energy…

'_I wonder what my powers will be like?_' she wondered idly as the shadows of rocks sluggishly made their way across her body. Would they be energy-based and harnessed through objects, like Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon and talismans of the outer senshi? Perhaps that was the staff she had summoned after her first transformation… '_That's the most likely choice,_' she mused, '_but wouldn't it be neat to just summon an attack right out of thin air? Like Uranus's World Shaking attack?'_ When they were little and she and her friends played make-believe, she would either play as Sailor Moon or Sailor Uranus and now, knowing no one was watching her, she raised her tired hand over her head and made a fist, as if grasping the nonexistent air itself. "World Shaking!" she whispered, and brought her hand down as if throwing the air towards her feet.

But suddenly the make-believe was real.

Her hand was encased in a golden orb of light, but it was too late to stop it now – she had released her grip, and the sphere of pure energy ripped powerfully through space, rocketing away towards the inner system as she was pushed forcefully in the opposite direction. Frantically she tried to gain control of her wings to stop her backwards flight, but they would not respond to her, too tired to move beyond a twitch. Helplessly she careened through the remains of the asteroid belt, miraculously missing the obstacles to emerge unscathed, but the momentary relief at not hitting anything head-first was quashed as she realized that she wasn't slowing down. The belt was far beyond her now, and the sun was on its opposite side – she was losing sight of everything, seeing only the darker sides of the planetoids until they disappeared altogether.

"Sandrine!" she called frantically, "Sandrine, I lost control! Help!"

There was no answer.

"Aemilia! Aemilia!" she cried; this time, static hissed in her ear as a response.

Panic was setting in. The sun shrank smaller and smaller, and she could see now the receding forms of the asteroids far enough away to be in crescent and half-light stages. Breathing quickly, she looked around to see if there were anything to help her, anything she could grab hold of, but there was absolutely nothing. Nothing, anywhere. "Sandrine!" she called again, "Aemilia!" Helpless tears streamed freely down her face as she called their names again and again, but her pleas were met with hissing static, nothing more.

:

Her throat grew sore, her voice tired and cracking; the sun was the size of a bead in the distance. "Mom," she whispered quietly, wanting nothing more than to be back with her. But she couldn't even find Earth now, her blue star lost somewhere out there amongst the shining water droplets that followed her flight. "Daddy," she murmured airily, her voice exhausted at last. Her arms tightened around her body, fighting to keep herself together; she had to try to rest. Earlier in her flight she thought to turn and try another attack to fling her back the way she had come, but no matter what she called out, nothing happened. Her wings still refused to move but for the occasional twitch, and, terrified, she wondered how long it would take to absorb enough power to get them working again.

How long would she be alone?

She didn't have a chance of being found – it was too big out here. They hadn't known where she was, and she could have shot off at an angle, so even if they thought they knew she might not be where they thought she'd be. She hugged herself tighter and cried, her eyes tirelessly scanning the space around the sun for just one glance of Earth, one tiny piece of comfort and hope.

She didn't feel her body slowing, or notice her approach towards a small spaceship. It was only when she was within the stellar vehicle, gravity reengaged and the spacescape before her cut off by automatic doors, that she took a breath and looked around to see a figure clad in a slim-lined space suit. Without thinking, she threw herself at the figure, desperate for the feel of human contact and the reassurance that everything was okay. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her face buried itself in his shoulders as she cried, sobbing gratefully.

His hands hugged her waist, pulling her closer, and they stood together, wrapped in each other's embrace. She was safe.


	7. Chapter 7

When finally he let her go to return to the cockpit, she felt a little embarrassed about what she did, but at the same time she didn't want to stay away just yet. As he jumped over the barrier and tucked himself into the strange pilot's seat, she sat beside him, her hand lightly touching his arm, finding comfort in the touch as he flipped switches to put the ship back in gear, maneuvering so that he wouldn't disturb her hand. She noticed this and appreciated his compassion, grateful for his kindness.

A hiss of air reached her ears and she felt the pressure change around her. As soon as the hissing stopped, her transformation faded away. Seconds later she collapsed into unconsciousness, her hand still on his forearm.

:

When she awoke, she was back in her room on the Niven. She sat up and blinked sleepily. With a yawn she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, shaking at first but steadying after just a moment of recalibration. What time it? She walked around the bed and opened the door to the main room and caught a split-second view of Sandrine curled up on the couch, the glow of a screen illuminating her face, but the motion of the door must have alerted her. In seconds, Sandrine jumped up and came over to pull her into a quiet hug that lasted for a full minute. It was warm, welcoming, and peaceful, and Bunny hugged her back gratefully, savoring the feel of other people. When she finally pulled away, the older senshi bent a bit so that they were eye-to-eye, "Are you okay?" she asked genuinely.

Bunny nodded, "Yeah," she croaked, causing Sandrine to frown a bit in concern and hug her again, but not so long this time

"Here, sit down," Sandrine instructed, walking her over to their couch, "Would you like some hot chocolate?" she paused for barely a second, "I'll get you some hot chocolate." She disappeared, leaving Bunny momentarily alone, smiling faintly, remembering Tunis's insistence on milk just a few nights ago. … but it seemed as if ages had passed since she last saw her friends. The incident yesterday…

She remembered everything, and she sat on the couch with her hands clasped between her knees, bending over slightly and staring at the floor. She didn't want to be alone, she realized self-pityingly, but as her eyes threatened tears her heart swelled with a feeling of comfort. She couldn't help but smile slowly as she felt ghostly and familiar hands hug her from behind, and sensed someone sitting beside her soothingly. Minako, Ami. She wasn't alone, she would never be alone. They were with her, all of them. Suddenly it was like someone was teasing her and she chuckled to herself, feeling slightly foolish for ever having forgotten them. They were with her – she was filled with them, their presence; she would never be alone, would never be empty. It was okay. She was okay.

Aemilia joined her on the couch, turning on a side-light to illuminate the room. She looked at her with concern, but Bunny reassured her with a smile. Sandrine was back then with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, which the princess took gratefully. A sweet drink! They did have sweets up here! She took a sip as Sandrine sat down and savored the warmth and taste, wondering what other sweets they had tucked away up here. How many packets of hot chocolate mix would it take to make a birthday cake?

"What happened out there?" Aemilia asked quietly, her eyes strong but calm.

"I was tired," Bunny explained, "I could barely move at all, you know?" she chuckled airily, "and I was only playing, but…" she told them about the attack, which raised eyebrows, then about her efforts to contact them on the radio communicators, and her rescue. They, in turn, told her that when they thought they saw a flash, they believed it to be the reflection off of one of the protection detail's ships, only realizing something was wrong when their communicators started shooting static with touches of Bunny's voice intermixed. They searched but were unable to find her; Aemilia returned to the station to contact the detail to start a farther search while Sandrine kept trying to find an area where the radio signal was strongest.

The static-filled signals had lasted for over an hour before there was silence. "We were so frightened for you," Sandrine said, her eyes sad; she reached out and took Bunny's hand then. "I was afraid that…" she paused, staring into her eyes as if memorizing her, "But you came back – they found you."

She blushed at the memory of her savior, the helmeted person who held her until she stopped crying, and moved so gently to not disturb her. Who had it been? Her heart thumped once as she considered the students who she had met – was it one of them? Maybe… Linden? He seemed like the person who would do that for her. Her cheeks reddened at the thought, thinking of Linden's blonde hair and blue-green eyes beneath the helmet. But then, Kansas was so nice, it could've been him, too. Or maybe it was just one of the teachers… but the person in the suit didn't have the figure of an older person – he was slim with a touch of muscular tone, like he was still growing; hugging him was nothing like hugging her father, as she expected hugging any other male adult would be like.

Yet, as she remembered and thought about it, the embrace felt so familiar… She turned to the two of them, "Who was it?"

Sandrine shook her head, "I don't know. When he entered the station carrying you, I was so relieved – we just took you from him and brought you straight here to rest. Oh, dear, how are you feeling?" she interjected as if she had forgotten something, "You should still be resting now…"

Bunny shook her head, "I'm okay," her voice came out a whisper, despite her attempts to sound normal. She smiled, "Well, except for my voice." The two of them looked relieved, but she had the distinct feeling that she might be sent back to bed anyway; before they could suggest it, she turned to Aemilia, "Do you know who it was?"

Aemilia looked at her skeptically, as if trying to puzzle something over. Eventually she answered, "Why? What did he do?" her eyes threatening pain if the answer was anything but appropriate.

"Nothing – I mean," she corrected, trying to clear her throat ineffectually, "he was really nice… I just want to… thank him." What _would_ she do if she found out who it was?

Aemilia cocked a brow and rolled her eyes. "I'll go find out for you, if you go back to bed."

She stood, brushed down her iridescent skirts, and walked to her bedroom door. As she opened it she turned, "What time is it?"

"Nearly morning. We'll let you sleep in a bit –" Sandrine supplied, but Bunny stopped her.

"That's okay; I'll get up on time," she smiled, shut the door behind her, and leaned up against the cool wall. Why did she say that? Getting up on time – that didn't sound fun at all! Why had she said that? She took a deep breath, wondering if she should take it back and sleep in this morning. The bed looked inviting; just standing there seemed to remind her body that it was tired and sore. She reached for the doorknob, hoping they were still in the living room, but as she started to turn it, her mind puzzled through the decision and she froze, her cheeks flushing warmly. If she didn't get up on time, she wouldn't get to have breakfast with whoever saved her. She built her lip guiltily, knowing a Princess shouldn't be thinking such thoughts, but shuffled over to the bed anyway.

'_Who was he?_' she wondered, closing her eyes for sleep. Her black-and-red-suited hero hovering in her mind's eye.

:

"Are you sure you want to wake up?" Sandrine whispered into the darkness, as if not really wanting to wake her.

The princess was already awake, just resting until someone came to get her. At Sandrine's words she sat up and sprung out of bed, "Yep, I'm sure!" she declared cheerfully, smiling brightly at the skeptical senshi, hiding the wince that jumping so quickly had induced. She tucked into the bathroom. She surveyed her hair with a grimace. Her buns were fluffy and askew, her pigtails tangled and without luster. Sighing, she picked up her hairbrush and set to work, brushing through the pigtails before taking down, reworking, and resetting her heart-shaped buns. She smiled at her reflection when she was finished, then stuck out her tongue, glaring at the bags under her eyes. She washed her face quickly, brushed her teeth, and escaped looking pretty good for someone who felt like they'd been beaten to a pulp.

She joined Sandrine and Aemilia in the living room and paused, considering their uniforms. She hesitated, but Aemilia answered her question before she could consider asking it. "No transformation today, World Shaking," she directed, using the attack of yesterday like a nickname. It was weird, but not as weird as some nicknames she'd been given before. "Today we're going to talk theory and history of senshi."

"Taking a break today will make it easier tomorrow," Sandrine explained with a smile. Bunny didn't mind the break, but she tried to look disappointed for not being able to transform.

Her stomach growled and Aemilia motioned to the door with a flourish; she chuckled and stepped into the hallway before them and started walking carefully down the odd slope of the floor, wishing she were barefoot or wearing slippers to better traverse the strange hall. … but that wouldn't really do, would it? What if her rescuer were really tall? She'd be even shorter without the slight heels. And that reminded her. Biting her lip she slowed to fall into step beside Aemilia and glanced up at the taller woman, deciding to get straight to the question. "So… did you find out who it was?"

"Hmm?" Aemilia hummed, glancing down at her, one hand holding the long black braid over her shoulder. "Who what was?" she asked back, her eyes betraying her game.

"You know who I'm talking about!" Bunny accused, "Who was it? Who saved me? Were you able to find out?"

"Oh, that," she shrugged, "Yeah, I found out."

Bunny's eyes were locked on hers, praying silently in her mind, '_Please be Linden, please be Linden, please be Linden_'.

"His name's Kiernan; he's one of the students."

Bunny froze mid-step, her mind racing to put a face to the name. It wasn't Linden, tall, blonde, dreamy Linden with the cute braid… And not Kansas, the helpful brunet with the friendly smile. Who else was there? … Tetsuya, the tall one with glasses – she remembered him because his name was Japanese and she was almost as fluent in Japanese as she was in Earth's common language. Then there was the sarcastic blonde who teased Kansas the other day at dinner – who was that? Was that Kiernan? She started walking again, noticing both Sandrine and Aemilia looking back at her, but she still puzzled her way through the ranks. There were six of them. Was the blonde – wait, the blonde was Gallon or something. Gellen? No, that wasn't right. Garron? Was that a name? … What does it matter - he's not Kiernan! That left the two other guys that hung around Tetsuya. Oh… no… wait… one of those was… She stopped dead in her tracks again. But it couldn't be – the other guy, what was his name? With the dark brown hair and really light eyes? She racked her mind, trying to fit the name 'Kiernan' to the brunet boy, but instead the name Faxon surfaced, a connection made for his light eyes and 'Faxon's definition as being something light in color. But… no… that left…

_The Jerk._

Tall, black hair, blue eyes – he was handsome, sure, almost as handsome as Linden, but that was only until he opened his mouth! The jerk had saved her?

Kiernan, the Jerk, had saved her. "_Can I _un_volunteer?_" her heart dropped.

"Bunny?" Sandrine called, and she started forward in autopilot.

Kiernan. The Jerk. … but the guy yesterday wasn't a jerk. A jerk would've pushed her away, or laughed, but he… he hugged her back. Her cheeks reddened as she remembered the moment again. He was so nice, and understanding. Maybe he wasn't so bad; maybe he just acted like a jerk or something. She took a deep breath and raised her chin, determined to give him the benefit of the doubt. A jerk wouldn't've let her hug him, let alone hold her in return, so Kiernan couldn't be a jerk.

… and if he really was, Carestia and the others would hear an edited version of this story.

They entered the cafeteria to a much noisier breakfast than the one she had had yesterday, students eating and talking contentedly despite the early hour. She received several glances, but there was no general quieting like they had two nights ago, but she didn't pay much attention to them – she was on a mission. She opened the door to the Teacher's room herself, and immediately scanned the tables until she found him. He sat beside Tetsuya and across from Faxon, facing away from her, his hands animating some sort of pilot story based on his arm movements. Taking a deep breath, she marched forward, glancing at her reflection in the food shields behind Faxon and hoping she didn't look tired. Faxon's eyebrow lifted in a silent signal at her approach, but she didn't even glance at him, fixated on the back of Kiernan's head.

She paused behind him and wondered if she should just sit down in the empty seat at his side, but she had no real time to consider. He glanced over his shoulder at her, his dark blue eyes resting on hers momentarily, then slowly backed his chair up and stood to face her. Her heart beat faster of its own accord; in her mind's eye, visions of the student standing in front of her blurred with her red-suited hero of yesterday, reaffirming what Aemilia had said. It was him. They were the same height, build, and… and general feel. It was almost like she knew him already, she thought in wonder, her eyes still focused on his. She took a step forward involuntarily; it felt warm there, beside him, and safe. She smiled at him, and for a moment it looked like he might smile back.

But then his eyebrow raised and his near-smile turned almost sardonic. She didn't care, though; she had seen it just before the swap – the beginnings of a true, honest smile, and that was almost good enough. "What can I do for you, Princess?" he asked, his face twisted to seem bothered, yet aloof.

"It's Bunny," she corrected, crossing her arms and looking away to play along, pretending to be miffed.

"I prefer Princess," he stated flatly.

It wasn't so hard to play along anymore. She gasped with indignation – the nerve! She looked back at him in honest surprise tinged with annoyance, her hands slowly falling to her side. She, the crowned Princess of the Solar System, offered he call her by her given name, and he just tosses it back? She had no response for that! How rude!

"So…?" he said, that infuriating look still on his face.

She growled. "Never mind!" she snapped angrily, then turned on one toe and marched off angrily, her back straight and her hands in fists at her side, fingernails biting into her palm. How could he – how _dare_ he! – just who did he think he was? Being rude was never acceptable! Just what was his _problem_ anyway? In a huff she sat down across from Sandrine, crossing her arms furiously and glaring at the silverware beside the plate of breakfast meant for her.

"So, how did it go?" Sandrine asked with an innocent tone.

She didn't answer, but the longer she sat there and breathed, the more she relaxed. She started thinking clearer, the haze of red and visions of strangling him fading away. He had almost smiled. The corner of her mouth twitched up remembering his face then, the softness of his expression. With a deep breath she sat straight in her chair and met Sandrine's inquisitive, amused eyes. "He is a class-A jerk," she stated as a matter of fact, then picked up her fork, speared a piece of fruit, and ate it.

:

She must've seemed really mad throughout the meal because Kansas only came over quickly before leaving to say how glad he was that she was okay, and that he'd see her at lunch. She smiled and waved at him as he left, but quickly turned back to Sandrine so she wouldn't have to look at any of the others leaving, her mouth in a tight, disapproving line. Sandrine chuckled, but waited a moment before speaking.

"They're gone," she informed helpfully.

Bunny took a deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing any feelings of distaste or anger. Lunch was hours away, and she was determined, now more than ever, to be so nice to Kiernan he _had _to drop the Jerk act. She'd see that honest smile of his, even if it cost her every scrap of dignity she possessed to do so.


	8. Chapter 8

They took to a small conference room for her lesson. Sitting around a round table in plush office chairs, she on one side, Sandrine and Aemilia on the other, the two senshi taught about the history of sailor guardians via conversation, rather than lecture. They discussed where to start – whether with a history of particularly important battles throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, or perhaps some background on their allied and neutral systems and the senshi who represent them, but, in the end, they decided to start with the very foundation of their order. Sandrine led the talk, beginning with the Galaxy Cauldron, star seeds, sailor crystals and chaos seeds…

"The Galaxy Cauldron," Sandrine explained, leaning back in her chair comfortably, "is where all stars are born, and where all stars return to when they die."

While at ease before, Sandrine's final words were like an echo in her head, and for a moment, rather than looking into the hazel-eyed auburn-haired senshi before her, she stared into the red eyes of a very different woman; a woman with pale skin, long red hair, and a pink flower blossom insignia in the center of her forehead. She wore red lipstick and a choker of blue ribbon, and behind her was the dark expanse of space. She shuddered at the ghost of a memory and shook her head in an attempt to clear it, pushing the eerie recollection away from herself. Instead she focused on Sandrine, grasping her hands tightly on the arms of her chair to keep her grounded in _her_ life. Galaxy Cauldron. Stars are born, stars die. Stars…

_A dark deep place as cavernous as space itself – she felt like she was suffocating. It was too big, too open, larger than it should be. She stood on a ledge, the world lit from below by a spinning vortex of light and color; she could only see the emissions, and the tiny glittering dust that floated around them, she… and the senshi in gold._ Bunny shivered. _Her eyes, dark and menacing, cut through the space between them, bearing down on her, and then she was airborne, launching herself towards her! She responded, jumping forward to meet the assault –_ Sandrine. Sandrine and Aemilia. Brown-red hair, and black hair. Wooden table, soft plush chair. Bunny moved her hands from the chair to knuckle her temples.

Sandrine paused, watching her with concern, "Bunny, are you okay?"

"Mother told me once that there are stars in our hearts – is this what that's about?" she asked, taking deep breaths and trying to think only of her own memories. Of her mother, with her dark ruby hair and friendly smile. She tried to think of that night when she got to sleep outside under the stars, with Sailor Ennomos showing her the constellations, and Zita and Biera squabbling and pushing each other around before Ameilia jumped out and scared them so bad they screamed! Tunis braided her hair and Carestia sat with Sandrine and Sandrine read her palm like the street vendors did, telling her of a fantastic future that they both built on with various heroes and adventures… and her mother, holding her hand and looking up at the stars. She had said something like '_There's a star in us'_. … No, more like –

'_Each one of us carries a star within our hearts.' Pale stone columns stood behind a statuesque, beautiful face with kind silver eyes…_

She started pushing the memory away, but stopped suddenly. Silver eyes? She tried to bring it back but it was gone, yet she was sure. That woman, with silver eyes and long silver hair – she must have been Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium, Princess Serenity's mother… and the first person she had ever seen with silver hair and silver eyes outside of a mirror. She smiled slowly, both treasuring the information and silently shoving it in the faces of those kids in grade school who said she must've been adopted because her mother had red hair, her father was blond, and her grandmother had pink hair until she was much much older. She grinned sinisterly, thinking of little Sammy and Kenshin groveling in the sandbox with the mighty and legendary Queen Serenity standing right behind her. She nearly cackled.

"You alright there, World Shaking?" Aemilia asked, one eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"Huh?" she replied, coming back to the room yet again.

Sandrine looked amused, "Confusion, fear, anger, amusement, wonder, mischief – your face is an open book, Baby Bunny, and right now there doesn't seem to be a plot." She paused and Bunny blushed, semi-aware of how easy she was to read from past experiences with friends and her family. They always seemed to know what she was thinking… Sandrine continued, offering as an explanation, "Old memories?"

She nodded, looking off to the side, "Touchy subject, I guess," it was like it was all something she had heard before, except for, "Did you know that Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium had silver hair and eyes, like me?"

"Really?" Sandrine inquired, genuinely interested. She looked up, one gloved finger on her chin thoughtfully, "her statue on the moon is made out of white stone, but I had always just assumed they were unable to incorporate dyes into the marble… how interesting…"

Aemilia winked, "Feeling authenticated?"

Bunny smiled sheepishly.

"That's great, but we were there when you were born; if you had issues with _hair color_ you should've just come to us." Bunny glanced over to Sandrine, who looked back at her with a little smile – she _had_ come to Sandrine once when she was little and had been told the same thing. It had put her fears to rest and given her something to fling back at the bullies, one eyelid pulled down and her tongue sticking out of her mouth, but nothing seemed to silence them like Zita could. Aemilia continued, "But I'd rather get through this history stuff as quickly as possible, so… if you could put those distractions on hold, that'd be great. You probably be able to remember all this at some point in time, if something caught the memory, but I'd rather you get all this info _now_ and have it fresh in _your_ memories to activate it easier," she looked sidelong at Sandrine, "That is, if you ever actually need to _use_ this stuff."

"Oh, hush, you," Sandrine brushed the comment away, "Just because you've never had a head for it doesn't mean it isn't important. _You_ might've been fine relying on your powers and abilities to solve all of your problems, but I think Bunny would enjoy knowing where all of this came from. _So_," she started again, before Aemilia could interrupt, "You're right – when your mother told you that there's a star in everyone's heart, she was talking about the seed of life force inside of all of us – our Star Seeds. Star seeds are created within the Galaxy Cauldron, accepting energy and life from the spinning birthplace of stars, and then travel to where they are needed. They make their home inside of _shells_, or pre-formed beings, such as pollinated seeds, rocks, and _fetuses_, and join with them, supplying them with the energy they need to live. When the being dies, the star seed returns and melts into the Cauldron. Some speculate that the seed houses the being's soul, and returning the Cauldron reunites them with everyone they have ever known and they live eternally suspended in feelings of peace and love, surrounded by friends and family."

Bunny smiled, but refused to fully consider what Sandrine had said, feeling a memory trying to surface; perhaps something from Usagi's time in the cauldron…

"But, like I said before, it's not only truly sentient beings that have star seeds. Celestial bodies, like stars, planets, and asteroids," she motioned to herself and Aemilia, "also have Star Seeds; however, it takes longer for their star seeds to grow within the Cauldron, growing from seeds into Crystals. Once a Crystal is formed, it travels to the celestial body it is destined to belong to, where it develops further, truly attuning itself to the body, anchoring the pair together indivisibly. Once that attunement has hit its peak, the star crystal has become a Sailor Crystal, and if the celestial body supports life, it chooses a host to inhabit, taking the place of the host's star seed. That host grows with the power of the Sailor Crystal, is born, and will one day awaken as a Sailor Senshi, sworn to protect the life the crystal saw created within the Cauldron by using the powers inherent in the celestial body it is one with. The Celestial Body is guardian to the Senshi, and the Senshi is guardian to life."

_So… a planet had to have life on it to produce a sailor senshi?_ "But… well…" Bunny bit her lip, unsure how to phrase it, eventually deciding to be blunt. "There isn't life on asteroids… so… how did you two…?"

Sandrine smiled, "Good observation! We were awakened by the Silver Moon Crystal, not our asteroids. Sometimes, strong Sailor Crystals are able to manipulate other Sailor Crystals. They can accept power from them and can even donate power to dormant crystals in order to awaken them in hosts of their choosing. So, when your mother became pregnant with you, she used the Rainbow Moon Crystal to awaken the Sailor Crystals dormant within the asteroids Tunis, Biera, Carestia and Zita. Those Sailor Crystals chose four growing female fetuses to inhabit, taking the place of the star seeds that might have chosen them, and your friends were born. Make sense?"

It was quite a bit of information… but it sorta made sense, so she nodded, wondering how much more complicated this lesson would be getting. … and how much longer it would last.

"Okay! Good. … and evil. There is always a balance to the Universe, Bunny, and if star seeds are neutral, allowing regular beings to choose their own destiny, and Sailor Crystals are good, protecting life in all of its forms, then there must also be evil to balance out the good. In the Galaxy Cauldron, growing alongside star seeds and crystals, are the Chaos seeds. These seeds are patches of hardened darkness, malice, distrust and—"

"Evil?" Aemilia supplied sardonically.

Sandrine glared over at her, "Well, yeah, _evil_. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope," the raven-haired woman replied, fingering the streak of white in her braid in a bored fashion.

"Then _hush!_" she shot at her, then calmly cleared her throat, "So! The seeds of Chaos are like concentrated malice while Sailor Crystals are like concentrated goodness. Like Sailor Crystals and Sar Seeds, Chaos seeds can start growing in a being from its very beginning, taking the place of a star seed; However, unlike Sailor Crystals and star seeds, Chaos seeds can also take root in a person already born. They can cast shadows on star seeds, or even envelop them whole, turning a regular person into an agent of Chaos. At one time, a particularly strong Chaos Seed even took over the shine of an unawakened senshi, turning them into a senshi of chaos…"

"Sailor Galaxia," Bunny whispered with a shiver. Sandrine nodded. "But… if chaos seeds can take root in anybody… no one is safe, are they?"

She smiled comfortingly, "No worries, Baby Bunny; so long as you keep the star in your hear shining brightly, chaos cannot take root there."

:

Only a little over an hour later, they headed for lunch and a blessed break from all that information. She had heard a bit about the senshi of allied planets and their princesses; she learned that princesses all possessed strong sailor crystals, which allowed them to gather power from their senshi partners, and that was kind of neat, but Sandrine liked to go into extreme detail about the stories of the other systems, and judging by Aemilia's face during some retellings, she gathered that the pink senshi might have exaggerated some of the stories to make them more tragic or exciting. It made them more interesting, for sure, but she wondered if she would ever be put into a situation wherein referencing Sandrine's version of the story would land her in trouble.

They entered the teacher's lunch room and the moment her eyes fell upon the back of the tall black-haired pilot trainee, Bunny cast off her mental strain like a stained cape and smiled determinedly. She would not fail this time! "I think I'm going to sit by Kiernan at lunch today," she announced.

"Going to thank him for yesterday?" Sandrine inquired, Aemilia already heading towards the teacher table.

"Yep. For sure, this time." Bunny replied.

"Well, make sure you convey my thanks, too, okay?" She familiarly placed her hand on Bunny's head between her buns as a means of farewell, and followed Aemilia, glancing back over her shoulder to wink at the princess.

She took a deep breath and walked to the food line, not wanting to be served when sitting beside him, and picked up a tray. Kansas appeared at her elbow almost immediately, smiling curiously, "I can get you something if you want, Bunny," he offered good-naturedly.

"That's okay, Kansas," she replied with an answering smile, "I can get it myself! I'm not that hungry, so…"

"Well then I suggest getting the stuffed potato – it's great!" he enthused, pointing to a foil-wrapped ellipsoid.

She smiled and shrugged, "I like pretty much everything so—"

"Well you're going to _love_ this!" he plucked up the potato with a pair of tongs and set it down on her plate.

She giggled, "I'm sure I will! But, wait," she paused, eyeing the potato with suspicious eyes, "Are there _carrots_ in it?"

Kansas looked confused, "I don't think so..." he offered, also looking down at the foiled food and then up at her. "You don't like carrots?"

"Not anymore," she grumbled.

"Well, if you don't like it you can always come back and get something else!" he smiled, she smiled back, and then turned from the line.

There he was, almost right in front of her, looking bored and talking in low voices with the other tall boy – Tetsuya. The seat across from him was empty, with his other friend sitting across from Tetsuya. Perfect. Taking a deep breath and plastering a smile on her face, she walked straight forward, placed her tray down in front of the empty chair, and took a seat facing him. "Hi!" she greeted in her friendliest voice. He glanced up and just stared at her, offering no greeting in return. Tetsuya and the other boy stopped talking, but didn't offer anything, either, looking at her inquisitively. No one was saying anything… She hesitated, but persevered. "How was your morning?" she tried again …. But was met with more silence.

Until another tray landed beside her and Kansas sat down, "Man, it was brutal!" he commented, "There was a roundtable discussion on navigation systems that I was _really unprepared _for, but Tetsuya swept the floor with everyone!" he commented, smiling at his tall bespectacled classmate. Tetsuya's expression softened marginally, as if affected by the praise, and Kansas continued as though he hadn't noticed, "he's really amazing with all the technological stuff; I swear he's the most talented genius of our age! Remember his name, Bunny, 'cause he'll be doing wonders in the future!"

"Really, Kansas, you exaggerate," Tetsuya replied humbly with a slight nod of his head, as though trying to discredit the admiration. She furrowed her eyebrows at him – she enjoyed praise; if she were that smart, she would love for someone to be proud of her for it. As it was… well, she wasn't exactly the top student back home… but that didn't really matter, right?

"Yeah, right," the boy beside her chimed in, "If you don't end up creating badass starships that can traverse systems in minutes, I'm a lemur."

She and Kansas laughed and Tetsuya's mouth twitched into a smile. "A lemur? Those little monkey-things from Africa?" Kansas asked.

"Aren't they marsupials?" the boy returned questioningly.

"Primates, actually," Tetsuya informed, "but thinking them marsupials is a common misconception."

Kansas laughed again, "Is there _anything_ you don't know?" he asked pleasantly. "Oh! That reminds me! I had a question for you! The other day you got really close to those asteroids and you just bobbed and swerved as if you knew what was going on – how did you do that?"

"He made a program that future-thinks gravitational interactions between the rocks," Faxon offered, "We tested it again using a droid the other night – it's really sophisticated. Even Craigen was impressed with it."

"Woah! Really?" Kansas exclaimed with awe.

She had no idea what they were talking about. But they were talking – that was good, wasn't it? "That's impressive!" she enthused, taking a bite of her potato and glancing from face to face, hoping they wouldn't pin her with a question she wasn't prepared to answer… like anything about 'droids' and 'future-think' … or gravitational interactions… or who Craigen was… She chewed slowly – if she were chewing, they wouldn't ask her anything anyway, right? The potato was really good, actually, just like Kansas had said it would be: buttery and delicious, with chives peeking out between the snowy meat of the potato, and not a carrot in sight. She glanced across the table; Kiernan wasn't speaking at all, he was just picking at his food sullenly. She considered asking him if anything were wrong, but guys probably didn't like being asked that in public, right? So maybe she should change the subject? Maybe he didn't like talking about… er… whatever they were talking about. But change the conversation to what? He had been really animated that morning – maybe she could ask him to tell her the story he had been telling them?

She was just figuring out how to word the request when suddenly he stood, taking his tray in hand as he moved to another table without a word to anyone. Well, now what?


	9. Chapter 9

Still determined to thank him, she stood, too. "Please excuse me," she asked with a smile, picking up her tray and walking around the table. A glance back assured her that Kansas wasn't coming this time; this time, it was up to _her_ to get him talking.

No problem. … maybe.

She sat down right beside him this time, smiling again, and picked up her fork. "So that was fun! Your friend Tetsuya is really smart, isn't he?" she tried, looking up at him. He looked annoyed and wouldn't make eye contact, resting his head on his hands and staring down at his plate singlemindedly. Focused on him, when her question was answered by a smooth voice across the table, she nearly jumped and dropped her fork.

"He's a certified genius."

It was Linden. A shiver went down her spine – he was _gorgeous_. He sat smiling at her playfully, his back straight and his blonde braid framing his face beautifully, his blue-green eyes staring into hers. She was blushing, she could feel it. She glanced away, smiling for no reason, and commented as best she could. "That's amazing. I don't know of any other geniuses… well, except for Ami-chan." The words were out before she could really think them through.

"Ah, is she a classmate of yours?" Linden commented with interest.

"Well, no, not exactly –" she hastily amended, "Ami-chan is – well, she _was_ – Sailor Mercury." How spazzy was she? She looked down in embarrassment.

"And you couldn't think of an example of a genius more recent than one who lived over 5000 years ago?" the blonde beside Linden commented sarcastically, one eyebrow raised. She flushed with awkwardness as he continued, content with looking down at her potato and wishing for invisibility. Or powers over time. Or even just to melt away into the chair. "Like, say, George Cannon, inventor of the hyper drive, or Jacques Tressaunt, who revolutionized artificial gravity? The team of researchers who theorized the validity of the Niven?"

"I think it was a valid connection," Linden stated; she glanced up quickly to see him facing the other boy – Gallon? – who had his arms crossed, ready for his defense. "Our Princess is not only connected to the Royal Family who have a strong history and connections to senshi, but she is now a senshi herself; I'd honestly be surprised if she had neglected to recognize Sailor Mercury for the revolutionary mind that she possessed."

_Yeah, take that, Gallon!_

The other blonde shrugged. "You mean a princess should only concern herself with education about her family's personal history and the history of their allies, and not the advancements made by the common man?" he asked in a flat voice that somehow managed to sound accusatory. She wanted to discredit him, but Linden was coming to her defense yet again.

"I'm sure her grasp of Earth history is as thorough as yours or mine," he stated. She bit the inside of her lip, hoping that she wasn't about to be quizzed on history. She didn't really have a head for dates… "But as she has just recently began her education as a senshi, I suspect her lessons of late have been focused on those historical women, and not on technological advancements through the ages."

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, more as a reaction to Linden's airtight response than an affirmation of its validity. She wished she hadn't as it drew more attention to her – even from farther down the table, where teachers were now glancing their way. She laughed nervously and took another bite of her potato so she wouldn't have to answer anything because, honestly, that morning was more like a summation of the best stories of allied systems; they hadn't discussed Solar senshi history yet.

Linden smiled at her and she felt like she might swoon, he was so perfect. "You see?" he said, addressing the other guy but still looking at her. "I bet your lessons are really interesting – what did you learn about this morning?"

He was so sincere and interested that she couldn't just say _ 'You know… stuff…'_ like she usually did when asked what she had learned at school. "Well," she began instead, "We talked about the Galaxy Cauldron and the different classes of lifeforces developed there."

"The Galaxy Cauldron?" the other guy asked in a sarcastic voice, suggesting she had made up the phrase.

Pursing her lips and crossing her arms, she defended herself, "Yes, the Galaxy Cauldron. It's at the point in the very center of the Galaxy, and it's where stars are born and where stars go to die."

"Stars don't travel _anywhere_ to die; they just explode," he countered. She decided didn't like him that much. "And astrophysicists have determined that stars are born from the gas and dust a star leaves after an explosion – they don't just fly out of a giant pot in the center of the galaxy. In fact," he continued, "_nothing_ can fly out of the very center of the galaxy, because the very center of the galaxy is a supermassive _black hole_. Not even _light_ can escape the gravitational pull of a black hole, let alone _stars_."

Nope, she didn't care for him _at all_. She crossed her arms angrily and shot back, "Shows what you know! I wasn't talking about _those_ types of stars! I meant the stars that exist in each and every one of us! The star seed that provides us with the energy to sustain life!"

"And eating does _what_ exactly?" he retorted, his voice bored.

She gripped her fork angrily, arms still crossed, and shot daggers at him with her eyes. She was over her head – Sandrine hadn't said anything about how it works that way. Just something about souls… "Your star seed holds your soul." She stated instead, still angry, waiting to see what he did with this.

"Oh," he said casually, "I didn't know this was a religious thing."

_A religious thing? But it was real! There was evidence! Star seeds must exist because Sailor Crystals exist, and Sailor Crystals are what senshi use to draw the power of their guardian star!_ She wanted to scream, to yell all of this at his stupid bored face, but it would be just too _unladylike_ and he'd just shrug it off anyway, acting all cool, so she settled for glaring at him.

"I think the idea of the Galaxy Cauldron is really interesting," Linden commented, his words like a balm on her raw nerves. "It is certainly a comforting thought, if you do believe that our souls are housed in our 'star seeds', and that those 'star seeds' return to the Galaxy Cauldron when we die. It definitely sounds like one would never be lonely after death."

She smiled and nodded at him, loosening the grip on her arms. "And it's true – it's all –" she paused, glancing around. Kiernan was gone. She looked over her shoulder at the table with Kansas and Tetsuya, but he hadn't returned there. She scanned the area, even standing up a bit to see over the taller teachers, but he she didn't see him anywhere. "Where did he go?" she asked herself.

"Who, Kiernan?" Linden guessed, but she didn't look back at him. Maybe Kiernan was sitting really low in a seat so she couldn't see him… "He just put his tray away."

She stood up and grabbed her tray. "Thanks!" she said back to Linden as she hurriedly walked towards the disposal area. She had only finished half of her potato, but that would hold her over until dinner, right? She dumped the rest into the trash, sorted her utensils and her tray, and made for the door as quickly as a ladylike person could.

"Bunny?" Sandrine inquired from a table; she turned and held up her index finger, indicating that she'd be back in just a minute, and pushed through the doors into the main cafeteria. The door ahead that led into the rest of the ship was just closing, so she pressed on a little faster, intent to catch him before he could disappear into the labyrinth of classrooms. When she reached the door she hauled it open and practically jumped into the hallway, glancing both directions for any sign of him, and caught his retreating form heading to the right, away from the classroom that she had been in this morning.

"Wait!" she called, moving to catch up, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Kiernan! Wait up!"

Finally he stopped, but he whirled around so quickly that she almost bumped into him. "What?" he inquired, his body-language exasperated with his arms palm-up in frustration, "What do you want?" His blue eyes bore into hers, demanding answers, his mouth a set line.

She froze, suddenly unsure of what to do or say. She didn't dare even blink. He was angry with her, but why? What did she do? Habitually her hand formed a fist, her thumb worrying her fingers nervously. "I," she started, but her voice was gravelly and weak, probably worn out from lunch when it hadn't fully recovered from yesterday. Definitely not because he was scary. She cleared her throat, breaking eye contact to stare down at the ground and tried again. "I… uh… Sailor Sandrine wanted me to thank you for her." She shuffled her foot nervously, wimping out. "You know, for yesterday."

He said nothing. She glanced up to see his brows furrowed incredulously, "She wanted to thank me by having you _follow me_ _everywhere?_" he asked accusatorily.

She blushed and looked away again. "No… I…" now was her chance. She could say it, and be done with this whole embarrassing mess. "I…"

"You what?"

The irritation in his voice made her feel even worse. She wanted to fade away, she was so uncomfortable. Why had she followed him? How stupid of her… but wait! No! She was trying to be nice! He was the stupid one for not talking to her! If he had only been nice this morning, none of this would have happened! She growled, "Grrrr! Nevermind!" she stomped her foot and turned back around, marching forward some paces, slamming her feet down as loud as she dared. Then she stopped – she wasn't finished with him yet! "STUPID! IDIOT!" she spat, sticking her tongue out at him, "I didn't want to thank you for saving me, anyway!" She turned her head so her hair would fly furiously and kept going.

"I got an award, so I didn't need you to thank me!" he returned, his voice raised to reach her with the hint of frustration still ringing through.

She growled again and stomped a little louder – of _course_ that's all he cares about! He only found her for a stupid _stupid_ award! Scholarships, system-wide acclaim – that's all he was after! Well he got what he wanted, then, and she was glad to be rid of him! That… that _stupid boy!_ Her third growl brought her past the doors to the cafeteria, which opened just after her passing.

"Bunny?" Sandrine asked, but she was too mad – she just kept walking.

"I'm ready for my lessons," she rumbled, her fingernails digging into her palms.

"Oh, alright then," Sandrine commented airily, catching up to her quickly. She was the image of calm and cool, looking distinctly aloof but pleasant. Bunny growled again, yanking open the classroom door and storming to a seat to collapse into it, folding her arms on her desk and casting about grumpily. Sandrine sat across from her at the conference table, still looking unconcerned, while Aemilia looked a touch confused. But Aemilia didn't say anything, Sandrine did. "So, did you get to thank him?"

She didn't answer, clenching her teeth together and looking away from both of them.

"Thank who?" Aemilia asked.

"That young pilot who saved her yesterday – Kiernan," Sandrine clarified with a wave, as if the information wasn't important.

"Great sentiment and all, but you don't really need to thank him," Aemilia commented. Bunny scowled. "He's going to be presented with an award –"

"I know," Bunny growled.

"—Oh," Aemilia stopped, then redirected, "If you knew, then why did you—"

"I didn't know until…" Bunny paused, willing herself not to cry out of remembered humiliation. She cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and refusing to look at either of them, "until he told me."

"Well then—" Aemilia sounded even more confused, but she was interrupted by a cheerful Sandrine.

"Ah, well then it was good thinking on Aemilia's part to tell everyone that the person who found you would receive an award, wasn't it? Good thinking, Aemilia!"

She pulled her arms in tighter to her chest.

"I said no such thing!" Aemilia contested, "And if some little snot valued an award more than finding you, he doesn't deserve to share any kind of space with you."

She smiled a bit at this. Especially at the _ 'little snot'_ line.

"Wait," Sandrine asked in a peculiar voice, as if she were leading the question, "so you're saying that the boy didn't _know_ he'd be getting an award when he saved her?"

Her arms started to relax, her teeth unclenching, catching on to what Sandrine hinted…

"No; I only told his superiors about it at breakfast this morning."

Things weren't so heavy anymore. She took a few slow breaths to dispel the feeling altogether, and slowly unwound her limbs.

"Oh… so I guess he didn't do it for the award," Sandrine said, shrugging.

Shyly, regretting her behavior earlier, Bunny caught Sandrine's eye and offered a small smile. "Thanks."

_Kiernan didn't save me because he knew would get an award for saving a Princess; there was nothing in it for him when he found me. He did it because he's a good person… and no one solely interested in renown would have… _she bit her lip, as if recalling a pleasant secret, _would have held me while I cried, or tried not to move his arm when I still needed to touch someone. He's a good person. … but he's also either a butthead or just plain socially awkward._

For the second time that day, she swore she'd get through to him, and while Sandrine started up again with more histories of their allies and tidbits about foreign senshi that might someday be useful, Bunny tried thinking up ways to do just that.

:

Bunny, lightheaded and just a little loopy, sat where Sandrine told her to sit and blanked out for a minute, her stomach growling uncontrollably. But the second the delicious smell of food wafted near her, she snapped back to life with gusto. Wielding a fork and knife, she tore into her dinner as if channeling a shark, completely focused and single-minded until the plate was clean. She was asked by a laughing Sandrine if she was still hungry, and, after a nod, another full plate was put before her. This second dish didn't disappear nearly as fast – she actually tasted the food. She glanced around the teacher's cafeteria, wondering how many people saw her devour that first helping, but found no one there. Relieved of _that_ possible embarrassment, she continued to chew through her meal, her stomach less ravenous than it had been.

"Where is everybody?" she asked curiously, cutting her meal into bite-sized portions.

Aemilia glanced up at the clock in the corner of the room, "Probably docking; dinner doesn't officially start for another five minutes or so."

"Oh," she replied and stood, spearing a small cut of beef and putting it into her mouth as an afterthought before she left the vicinity of the table. Chewing quickly, she approached the meal line and looked around for anyone working. Almost immediately an older person popped into sight and rushed over, a bowl of freshly cooked and chopped carrots in his arms, ready to refill the main line in the adjoining room.

"How might I help you, Princess Serenity?" he asked with a quick nod.

She smiled, waving off his gesture with both hands, "Oh no! I just wanted to say thank you for the trouble you had to go through to make a plate for me before dinner was supposed to start!" She bowed slightly, "Sorry for being so much trouble!" she straightened and smiled back at his confused but pleased expression, then remembered that she hadn't actually thanked him, "Oh!", and bowed again "Thank you!"

"You are most welcome, Princess Serenity," he replied, "And it was no trouble at all! In fact, if you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask! And if any of the boys behind the counters here give you a hard time, you tell them that Jameson already said okay." He winked.

She giggled at his genial nature, "Okay! Thank you very much, Mr. Jameson!"

"My pleasure, Princess," he replied with another nod of his head. He turned and went back to work, and she returned to her meal.

"I'm so hungry," she complained, taking another mouthful of food, "Will it always be like this?"

"No," Sandrine laughed, "It's just what happened yesterday. Your sailor crystal handles most of the stress on your body when you're transformed, but when you get as wiped out as you did yesterday, it leaks over into your untransformed state. You're going to sleep really well tonight, too; I'm surprised you didn't sleep straight through the morning."

She nodded absentmindedly and finished her plate – she didn't feel sleepy at all. Maybe still a little hungry, though. She got up and put her plates away, then joined Sandrine and Aemilia in line as the buffet was filled, wondering if this third helping would be her last, marveling that she could actually fit that much food in her stomach. As they headed back to their table, the double doors opened to emit the teachers and senior-class pilots, all talking amongst each other animatedly. Kansas waved to her and she waved back, taking a seat beside Sandrine at the end of a table. She saw Kiernan, too, and smiled at him, but made no effort to speak to him. She had decided to leave him alone at dinner. Completely. Not one word to him, unless he started talking to her first.

Their table started filling up with teachers, who spoke amicably with Aemilia and Sandrine, but before all the spots could be taken, Kansas took the spot across from her. She was glad to see him. They talked together and laughed; she found out about his family and his past: they lived in America, kinda; ever since he was little he had been on and off space stations, both parents were experienced and talented pilots. He was one of six kids, each and every one of them as friendly and outgoing as he, and his stories of their holidays made her laugh until there were tears in her eyes. He loved talking about them and telling her 'scandalous family gossip,' especially about his wily great uncle William and his mischievous adventures.

"So, what do you guys do around here for fun?" she asked once they were both finished with dinner.

Kansas smiled, "Do you want to see?"


	10. Chapter 10

Bunny walked carelessly beside Kansas, letting the older boy lead her to wherever they were going as she enjoyed the sights of the ship. Honestly, there wasn't much to draw her attention, the hallway uniform but for its branches, with either connecting halls or doors periodically spaced along its circular length. What she watched instead was the trail of lights that seemed to travel the hall endlessly above their heads, curving with the slight curve of the ceiling, each a distinct color of the rainbow. These lines of light were together for a while, but branched off down hallways and disappeared, or were replaced by a different color; the path they took was lit by red, burnt orange, and light orange strands that raced along beside the white luminescent bulbs behind screens.

"What do they mean?" she asked at one point as the yellow beam arched down a hallway to their left, leaving the array of reds and oranges that travelled with them. As they passed the adjoining hall, she spied a short entrance hall to a group of classroom doors, each standing open and filled with students.

"Well," Kansas started, glancing up at the ceiling, "each represents a different class group here at the Niven. See the red? That's my group's color – Red for senior pilot trainees. The dark orange is for the junior pilot trainees, and the light orange is for those who have just begun their pilot training. Yellow were for pilot hopefuls – did you see how it was blinking? That means that their class session is about to begin. Really, once your color starts blinking, you can pretty much guarantee you'll be late." He laughed, and turned around. She glanced behind them, too, to see a girl running as fast as she could up the hallway, glancing up once before turning sharply to follow the yellow light.

"What happens when you're late?" she asked curiously.

"It's up to the instructor; I know the few times I was late I had to stay behind to clean the room afterwards. One time I had to stand for the duration of class – the whole hour and a half – and another time I had last pick and last rotation of the simulators," he grimaced, "You learn to be on time."

She giggled, "When I'm late they have me clean, too! … or stand in the corner with a bucket on my head."

"A bucket?" he repeated with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I don't know why, either." He laughed, and she laughed along with him. "So," she asked as they continued, "Are we going to your class?" Her heart fluttered nervously at the possibility, glancing up at the red light line above their heads.

"No way! I wouldn't put you through that!" Kansas assured, "We don't have anything scheduled tonight – it's free roam. See, the lights will always lead to your classroom, if you have a class to go to at the time. We don't have a class scheduled, so instead it's leading any Red student to places we could further our studies or hone our skills unsupervised."

Her hopes for the night started sinking, "Like a library?"

He glanced at her sidelong, "Oh… if you wanted to go to the library we could go there…" he offered hesitantly, his reticence towards the idea heartening.

"Nope! Libraries and I don't get along well." she assured cheerfully. "So, where are we heading?" The orange light overhead branched off one way, while the red and burnt orange continued on, but not for much farther. Up ahead both ended, turning sharply to a door to their left. They stopped outside the door and Kansas punched in a number into a silver keypad. The door swooshed open, and Bunny's jaw dropped as they walked through. It was a videogame arcade, or something very much like it, with banks of lever-and-knob games and simulation rooms with high scores posted outside the door, giant tables set up with fully three-dimensional holographic strategy games and hand-eye-coordination enhancers.

"Oh! I completely forgot to ask!" Kansas exclaimed, glancing over at her with some concern, "Do you like video games? 'Cause if you don't there's a cool lounge area not too far from—"

"_Where do we start?_" she replied as if not hearing him, marveling at the array as her feet took her to a brightly colored holographic display that read 'START'. Without hesitation she reached out and touched the air as if pressing a button, and the game began. Lights, sounds, colors – this game had everything! It was like a three-dimensional version of whack-a-mole, relying on both rows, columns, and depth, except you didn't chase and hit moles, but colors of the rainbow that corresponded to your current ability level. Kansas stood by, cheering her on as one hand, and then both, activated specific light sequences. The game got harder once it figured out she was using two hands – it had dual lights come on in various places and she had to divide her attention to hit just the right ones, and then the whole area was alive with a mess of color and she had to chase only the rotating squares. The rows grew taller and she glanced over at Kansas, "Can I jump on this?"

He laughed, "Yeah, sure you can!" he cupped his hands in front of him and bent down for her, allowing her to use him as a step stool. She kicked off her shoes and used him to bounce up on top of the display, the light surrounding her now, and she punched and kicked at the now three rotating rectangles as they appeared and disappeared amongst the mess of lights, glad that her dress was free flowing from its empire waistline. Before long things had become too hectic – she couldn't catch it anymore, it just seemed to be spinning her in circles. Laughing loudly at the impossibility of the task, she spun one final time, slipped, and fell off of the stand. Luckily for her, she somehow managed to land on her feet, but the few backward steps it took to steady herself had her collide with someone.

Hands took her shoulders gently to ground her and, still laughing at the display of lights that spelled out her score, she turned to see who it was that caught her. She tried to ignore the small feeling of embarrassment welling up in her gut, the trepidation at the thought that what she just did was certainly _not_ considered Princess-like, and readied an apology in case it was one of the school's teachers. But it wasn't; instead it was the tall and calm-eyed Tetsuya who she had accidently ran into, and she stepped back and hurriedly offered a small bow for the inconvenience. "Sorry! Please excuse me!" she pleaded gustily.

He smiled, "No excuse necessary. You did rather well up there." His blue eyes were kind, tinted with amusement – probably at her expense, but she really didn't mind that anymore.

"You alright, Bunny?" Kansas asked, coming around the side of the machine.

"Oh yeah, yeah!" she said, waving her hands as if trying to brush his concerns away. "What next?"

She jumped from machine to machine, mashing buttons and figuring out combos in character-based fighting games; nearly two hours went by in a flash. But just as her character finished punching and kicking his way to victory in a classing fighting game – 'speed coordination training game' – Kansas gasped appreciatively. She smiled and put her hands on her hips happily as her character danced, but a glance towards him deflated her in a second – he hadn't gasped at her, but instead at the giant holographic game board near the back-center of the room that had been lit up since they first arrived. She peered around him to look at it, glancing at a rotating scale at the top of the display that was tipped almost completely in one direction, and asked, "What is it?"

"Looks like someone's about to win," Kansas replied enthusiastically.

"Win what?" she asked, following him as he approached the giant display. One of Kiernan's friends – Faxon? – was playing on the side nearest to them, but with the display so huge and vibrant she couldn't tell whom he was playing against. There were several layers to the game; first, a rotating globe near the scale that was shaded different colors, then a series of views of what looked like outposts with little men running around and hiding or shooting at other little men. Faxon's gaze went from screen to screen, his fingers flying through a complicated-looking command board as he made anxious little noises every now and again. She tried to follow along with the action, but if she had to bet money on things, Faxon was losing. She understood that he was the blue side… and there weren't very many blue people on the screens. Or blue flags. "Is it capture the flag?" she guessed, watching as Faxon tried an attempt at winning back a fort that recently turned red.

"Something like that," Kansas replied.

"Hmm…" she considered, then looked over at him, "How hard is it to play?"

"Uh…" he considered, still engrossed in the battle, "I guess it depends on your background. The controls can be daunting to a newbie; my first game lasted only minutes, and that was against a computer. I was absolutely slaughtered!" he laughed, "but if you wanted to give it a go I could try teaching you."

She considered, "How long does a game usually last?" The blue forts were being taken over at an alarming rate now, with little blue people dwindling. The scales up above were tipped completely in the red's favor.

"It depends on who's playing, honestly, and what the goal is. Games can last from minutes to hours – these guys have been playing longer than we've been in here, if that gives you any idea." He chuckled, then pumped his fist in the air, cheering on the victor as the hologram switched views to show the last battle, blown up to huge proportions.

Bunny watched, a little in awe of how long the game had taken, as Faxon took up a smaller hand-held controller as his last blue guy fought for his life. It became like a fighting game then, one-on-one, and the amount of acrobatics and martial arts skills the little people did was dizzying; while part of her rooted for Faxon's little guy, being the last of his people and the underdog and all, she couldn't help but admire the red guy's moves. He was everywhere! He finally won, knocking the blue guy to the ground and pinning him there, the weapon trained on him, and Faxon put his controller down, signifying defeat.

She clapped with Kansas for the victor as red fireworks took over the display, the world melting away as a name was outlined in the sparkling simulated light: KIERNAN. Her hands slowed, eyebrows knitting together as she realized whom she was cheering for, but then quickly sped up again at double the pace of before. Kiernan had won, after a battle lasting more than two hours, and he had won with a good number of units left, having taken over all bases and finding some sort of "relic" item – or so the score board said. He did a really good job! And, maybe, cheering for him would somehow count towards an apology for earlier.

The screen faded completely, revealing his tall form standing at the controls opposite, one fist pumped in the air triumphantly, and she cheered louder for him, even when his blue eyes stared at her in shock. He glanced from them to Faxon and Tetsuya, then back to her, and she stopped clapping to smile at him nonthreateningly, but apparently she had done something wrong in any case. He went around the table opposite their side and went straight through the doors leading out.

She sighed gustily, her bangs flaring with the sudden breeze, and turned to Kansas, "Thanks for the games, Kansas, but I'd better go."

"Oh," he replied with some confusion, "Would you like me to walk you back to—"

She smiled, interrupting him as she started towards the door, "That's okay! It's just one giant circle, right? I'll find my way back. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast!" The doors opened at her approach, "Thanks again!" she waved as they shut after her, cutting the game center away. She paused to take another deep breath, glancing in either direction to find out which way Kiernan had gone, and caught sight of him heading right, away from the red lights on the ceiling.

She started after him quietly, thinking he would probably dash off if he knew she was following him. As she walked, barefoot on tip toe, she grimaced at the occasional sound of her dress against the carpeted floor, at once realizing that she had left her shoes by the first machine and wondering if the soft click of high heels on carpet would be quieter or louder than the sound of her dress. In any case, she wasn't going back for them – there was no doubt that if she went back to grab them, Kiernan would disappear completely into the ship and she'd never find him. Up ahead he turned down a hall and she froze, wondering if he spied her out of the corner of his eye, but as he didn't double back and yell at her, she figured he was still unaware, if out of sight. Hiking up her voluminous skirts in both hands, she dashed forward quietly to the aisle and put her back to the wall, peering over the corner to see where he went. He was turning another corner; as soon as he had, she rushed forward yet again to peer around that way and found him punching an ID code into the panel beside a red-lined door.

She knew what she had to do.

She pulled her skirts closer and higher, so that the bottom brushed against her knees, pulled her hair forward over one shoulder, and quietly caught her breath, the number panel beeping in monotone with each of the digit inputs. As she heard the door swoosh open, she tensed, readying herself to dash in as soon as he stepped through, and only then considered the possibility that she could be running into his bedroom or the men's bathroom or another equally embarrassing place for a girl. But he was stepping through, so there was no time to really think about it – she sprang forward after him, her legs pushing her forward unsteadily. The first step was wobbly, the second awkward, the third had one foot caught behind her other leg and suddenly she was falling. "Eeeh!" she squeaked meekly as her balance fully gave way and she was rushing face-first into the room past the door.

She dropped her skirts in an attempt to use her arms to break her fall, but the fingers of her right hand caught her hair and pulled, trapping them in her long pigtails, and she fell unevenly. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away, bracing for impact, but suddenly her outstretched left hand and her entangled right hand were caught and held firmly, stopping her forward fall. While her knees buckled and fell hard on the ground, jarring her, she opened her eyes and followed the hands holding hers up his grey and red uniform to his face. He looked shocked and concerned, his blue eyes wide and anxious staring down at her, and looking at them she knew she had been right. _This_ was the real Kiernan, a person who reached out to help when he could have easily and blamelessly let her fall, not at all like that guy who yelled at her and made her angry. As his expression started to change, an eyebrow quirking and the concern disappearing from his eyes, she smiled up at him through her embarrassment.

He pulled her up to her feet and the door finally closed behind them, but he didn't let go of her hands immediately. His tone incredulous and deadpan, he asked "Did you really just follow me all the way from the game room?"

"Uh," she breathed, not quite knowing what to say,"…yeah, but - "

"… and then tripped over your own feet trying to race through the door?" his eyes flickered from hers to the door behind her, and all she could do was nod feebly.

He stared at her and she stared back at him, wondering if he would become angry or irritated again, but then she spied the sides of his mouth twitching as if he was holding back a smile. She broke away from him and crossed her arms, looking off to the side and tapping her foot in imitated frustration. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh," she growled, giving him her leave to laugh freely at her clumsiness; she'd seen it before – people wanting to laugh but feeling unable to because of who she was – and it was always better and friendlier after they laughed about her inelegance. … but looking away from him let her see the rest of the room, and in her awe she dropped her arms and took a few steps forward, looking out into space.

The entire flat wall was a window, giving her views of nothing but the stars above them. Her mouth fell open at the sheer dark black, then closed quickly as she shuddered, recalling the sensation of emptiness and loneliness from the previous day. There was no sun in the image anywhere, nor were there asteroids, or brighter stars of planets; but then, as she thought about the layout of the Niven and what she had seen from when she was out there the day before, she realized that the window she was looking through actually peered _up_, out of the plane of the solar system, and she got the uncomfortable, undeniable sensation of being off balance, as though she would fall again. She was standing on the wall looking up through the ceiling – she reached down and found the arm of a plush couch and quickly sunk into it, tearing her eyes away from the confusing scene and focusing only on the room to reorient herself.

It was a lounge, not too big, but not small, either; set up with red leather couches and armchairs in an array that encouraged conversation. One wall was the huge window; the opposite held pictures of previous pilot crews and a large display for what could be television. One connecting wall held a large picture of Earth suspended in space, the other had the door. Kiernan near to where he was, but now closer to the window, as if he had been looking out with her, but now those blue eyes were on her again, his expression guarded, waiting for her to speak first.


End file.
